Right to a fair trial to be added to Dutch constitution

The Tweede Kamer on Tuesday approved several amendments to the constitution. They voted for enshrining the right to a fair trial in the constitution and modernizing the confidentiality of correspondence so that it also applies to digital communication like email.

Many parties considered the right to "a fair trial before an independent and impartial judge" essential, given the experiences of the childcare allowance scandal. Parents ended up on Tax Authority blocklists without being able to defend themselves against often unjustified suspicions.

The MPs also approved adding a passage in the constitution that guarantees the fundamental rights of the Dutch and the democratic constitutional state.

This is the largest revision of the constitution since 1983. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, and the Eerste Kamer, the Senate, previously approved these amendments. But to amend the constitution, both Kamers have to approve them a second time, by a two-thirds majority.

The Tweede Kamer has now done so. The Eerste Kamer still has to vote on the changes a second time.