State Opening of Parliament 2024: investing in a secure and just Netherlands
Keeping the Netherlands secure and just. This is the leading priority in the coming financial year. And that is necessary because our safety, freedoms and democratic rule of law are under pressure. Organised crime, social polarisation and discontent threaten our freedom. Investments will be made in 2025 to strengthen the fight against organised crime and to reinforce the police. In addition, the government continues to strengthen access to justice. To address the capacity deficit within the prison system, DJI is working with chain partners to find ways to reduce the deficit as much as possible.
Investing in security and resilience
Joint efforts by partners to combat organised, subversive criminality are bearing fruit. But organised, subversive criminality remains a danger to the democratic rule of law. The government is therefore comprehensively investing over € 120 million in strengthening the approach to combating subversive criminality and protecting the democratic rule of law. In addition, issues such as disinformation, espionage, cyber attacks and various crises threaten national security. The government is allocating € 65 million to strengthen the resilience of businesses and citizens. So that our society can continue to function even during crises. The police also have a crucial role to play in this connection. They are not only charged with combating crime but also, for example, dealing with people with confused behaviour and administrative operations in the asylum chain. Therefore, the government is allocating another €50 million in 2025 rising to €100 million in 2027, for the police. The exact spending of the €100 million will be announced by the Minister of Justice and Security at a later date.
Strengthening legal protection
A well-functioning democratic rule of law has many aspects: safeguarding fundamental rights, safety on the streets, peaceful resolution of conflicts and, where necessary, protection of residents against the government. People must receive the right support. The government is therefore strengthening access to justice, so that individuals and businesses can find appropriate and lasting solutions to legal problems more quickly and easily. In this context, the government is investing in the Legal Aid and Advice Centre so that people can be referred to the right help more effectively. In addition, the government is investing in institutional renewal within the judicial system.
The government also wants to strengthen the legal position of vulnerable children and parents facing child protection orders. Child protection measures, such as placement in care, have a deep impact on families and therefore parents and children need to be better heard, involved and supported in these procedures. The focus is primarily on ensuring high-quality decision-making, providing legal aid in court proceedings, and strengthening the role of the juvenile court judge. Overall, €25 million will be allocated for this purpose. Additionally, the government is continuing its approach to juvenile crime, including the ‘Prevention with Authority’ programme for which € 99 million has been made available.
Structural solutions to capacity shortages in the prison system
New employees are increasingly difficult to find. The Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI) is working with other chain organisations on measures to reduce the capacity shortage at DJI as much as possible. The emphasis is on finding long-term solutions. In 2025, we will also continue to strengthen our approach to sexual offences. That approach has been given impetus with the entry into force of the Sexual Crimes Act on 1 July 2024.
Strengthening crisis management and fire services
A key conclusion of the Security Regions Act evaluation committee is that improvement is needed in the cooperation between regions, crisis partners and central government in dealing with interregional, supraregional and national crises. One solution to this is to amend the Security Regions Act. The aim is to submit the first part of this legislative amendment to the Council of State in summer 2025. At the same time, work continues on the second legislative amendment, with specific attention being paid to fire safety prevention, companies’ fire departments, improvements to the fire service education system, the position and tasks of the Regional Medical Assistance Organisation (GHOR) and the manner in which the system is financed.
Originally published at https://www.government.nl/latest/news/2024/09/17/state-opening-of-parliament-2024-investing-in-a-secure-and-just-netherlands
