Tasks | Ministry of Security and Justice

Tasks

Dutch society is a colourful mixture of different people. Their interests may sometimes be diametrically opposed, while the interests of society as a whole may conflict with those of individuals. Who is responsible for unravelling this knot of conflicting interests, convictions and disputes?

The Minister and State Secretary of Justice are responsible for maintaining order in our society, while ensuring that justice, safety and unity come first. Because no matter how different Dutch people may be, everyone shares the ideal of living in a just and safe society. The integration of established migrants and newcomers deserves particular attention. The ideal climate is one in which unity and commitment flourish, enabling us to live side-by-side, embracing our differences.

The Ministry of Justice is working towards this ideal by creating conditions in which people can seek and find justice, and also by making it possible for individuals and businesses to seek help in resolving their conflicts. The Ministry is trying to strike a balance; a balance between individual interests and the interests of society as a whole. It maintains a legal order in which people with different lifestyles, backgrounds and convictions can live together in harmony, while taking account of the fact that the Netherlands is also committed to the international legal order.

In short, the Ministry fulfils a difficult role in a rapidly changing society.

The portfolio division

The Minister of Justice’s portfolio contains all judicial subjects except for the tasks entrusted to the State Secretary. The Netherlands Nationality Act continues to be part of the Minister’s portfolio.

The State Secretary of Justice is, within the limits of the policies laid down by the Minister of Justice, more in particular entrusted with the following responsibilities:

A) Aliens Affairs, 
except for the Netherlands Nationality Act and border control,

and

B) Sanction enforcement,
all this including the responsibility for the organisational sections of the Ministry of Justice entrusted with the implementation of those policy areas.

The deputy scheme

The deputy scheme means that the State Secretary will replace the Minister of Justice in the latter’s temporary absence. However, the Minister for the Interior and Kingdom Relations replaces the Minister of Justice in the area of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, and where it concerns counterterrorism, in relation to the Public Prosecution Service and the General Intelligence and Security Service and other services and institutions falling under the responsibility of the Minister of Justice and the Minister for the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Except for documents in the area of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism et al, the State Secretary of Justice may handle all documents belonging to the Minister of Justice’s portfolio in the latter’s absence. In such an event the State Secretary does not sign the documents as ‘The Acting Minister of Justice’ but as: The State Secretary of Justice.