Editing Constitution of the Netherlands (section)

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}}
The first constitution of the Netherlands as a whole, in the sense of a [[Constitution|fundamental law]] which applied to all its provinces and cities, is the 1579 constitution, which established the [[confederation|confederal]] [[Dutch Republic]]. The constitution was empowered by the [[Union of Utrecht]], thus by [[treaty]]. Article XIII of the treaty granted each inhabitant of the Republic [[freedom of conscience]].

After the French invasion of 1794 the [[Batavian Republic]], a [[unitary state]], was proclaimed. On 31 January 1795 it issued a [[bill of rights]], the ''{{lang|nl|Verklaring der Rechten van den Mensch en van den Burger}}''. On 1 May 1798 a new constitution, the first in the modern formal sense, the ''{{lang|nl|[[Staatsregeling voor het Bataafsche Volk]]}}'', written by a [[Constituent Assembly of the Batavian Republic|Constituent Assembly]], went into force, approved by the National Assembly. The Napoleonic [[Kingdom of Holland]], a [[constitutional monarchy]], was established by the ''{{lang|nl|Constitutie voor het Koningrijk Holland}}'' on 7 August 1806. In 1810 the kingdom was annexed by the [[First French Empire|French Empire]].

===Establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands===
After the French troops were driven out by Russian [[Cossack]]s, the new [[Sovereign Principality of the United Netherlands]] was established by the constitution of 29 March 1814, the ''Grondwet van den Staat der Verëenigde Nederlanden''. William VI of Orange was instated on 2 December 1813 as "Sovereign Prince" by [[acclamation]], but and only accepted "under the safeguard of a free constitution, assuring your freedom against possible future abuses." He first appointed 600 men of good standing as electors ([[Assembly of Notables (Netherlands)|Assembly of Notables]]) and these approved the constitution, written by a commission headed by [[Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp]]. On 24 August 1815 William — since 16 March King [[William I of the Netherlands]] — having proclaimed himself King of the larger United Netherlands six days earlier, issued the first version of the current constitution, the ''{{lang|nl|Grondwet voor het Koningrijk der Nederlanden}}'' or ''{{lang|fr|Loi fondamentale du Royaume des Pays-Bas}}'', establishing the [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]], now expanding his realm with the territory of the present state of [[Belgium]], which would again secede from it in 1830. It included a limited unentrenched [[bill of rights]], with [[freedom of religion]], the principle of [[habeas corpus]], the [[right of petition]] and [[freedom of the press]] as its main points. In the [[Eight Articles of London|Treaty of London]] of 1814 the Allies ordered that the original Dutch state would devise a new constitution. It was approved by the new [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] (consisting of 55 members) of the Northern Netherlands, but rejected by the majority of appointed electors (796 against 527) of the [[Southern Netherlands]]. However, 126 appointed members indicated that they objected to the new constitution because they believed in stronger provisions for freedom of religion. Since freedom of religion was guaranteed under the [[Congress of Vienna|Treaty of Vienna]], their votes and abstaining votes were counted in support of the new constitution instead. This infamous "Hollandic Arithmetic" left William feeling justified in his proclamation of the new kingdom.

Regarding the government's political structure, the 1815 constitution did not diverge much from the situation during the Republic: the 110 members of [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]] ([[lower house]]) of the States General, the "Second Chamber" as it is still called, were still appointed by the States-Provincial (for three years; each year a third was replaced), who themselves were filled with nobility members or appointed by the city councils, just like under the [[ancien régime]]. However, the new constitution provided for some rural delegates, elected through [[electoral college]]s and appointed to all States-Provincial (first only true for [[Friesland]]) and the city councils. The electoral colleges, in turn, were elected by a select group of male citizens of good standing and paying a certain amount of taxes. Thus, a modicum of democracy was indirectly introduced into the system. Generally, however, the administration was monarchical: the King had control over appointments to the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]], also known as the "First Chamber" and mockingly referred to as the ''{{lang|fr|Ménagerie du Roi}}''. In 1840, when a new revision was made necessary by the independence of Belgium, a first step to a more parliamentary system was taken by the introduction of penal ministerial responsibility.

===Constitutional Reform of 1848===
[[File:Bronzen herdenkingsplaquette - 's-Gravenhage - 20363430 - RCE.jpg|thumb|right|A plaque commemorating the actions of [[William II of the Netherlands|William II]] during 1848.]]
{{Main|Constitutional Reform of 1848}}
The constitution as it was revised on 11 October 1848 is often described as the original of the version still in force today. Under pressure from the [[Revolutions of 1848]] in surrounding countries, King [[William II of the Netherlands|William II]] accepted the introduction of full [[ministerial responsibility]] in the constitution, leading to a system of [[parliamentary democracy]], with the House of Representatives directly elected by the voters within a system of single-winner [[electoral district]]s. Parliament was accorded the right to amend government bills and to hold [[Hearing (law)|investigative hearing]]s. The States-Provincial, themselves elected by voters, appointed by majorities for each province the members of the Senate from a select group of upper class citizens. A commission chaired by [[Johan Rudolph Thorbecke]] was appointed to draft the new proposed constitution, which was finished on 19 June. [[Suffrage]] was expanded (though still limited to [[census suffrage]]), as was the bill of rights with the [[freedom of assembly]], the [[privacy of correspondence]], freedom of ecclesiastical organisation and the [[freedom of education]].

===Expansion of suffrage===
{{See also|Pacification of 1917}}
In 1884 there was a minor revision. In 1887 the census suffrage system was replaced by one based on minimal wealth and education, which allowed an ever-growing share of the male population to be given the right to vote; therefore this provision was at the time nicknamed the "[[caoutchouc]]-article". The election interval for the House of Representatives was changed from two (with half of it replaced) to four years (with full a replacement of now hundred members). Eligibility for the Senate was broadened. Any penal measure not based on formal law was prohibited.

In 1917, which was, as in 1848, influenced by the tense international situation, [[universal manhood suffrage]] was introduced combined with a system of [[proportional representation]] to elect the House of Representatives, the States-Provincial and the municipality councils. The Senate continued to be elected by the States-Provincial, but now also employing a system of proportional representation, no longer by majorities per province. The Christian democratic parties agreed to universal manhood suffrage in exchange for a complete constitutional equality in state funding between public and denominational schools, thus ending the [[School struggle (Netherlands)|school struggle]]. By the revision of 1922 [[universal suffrage]] was explicitly adopted in the constitution, after it had already been introduced by law in 1919. Each three years, half of the members of the Senate were to be elected by the States-Provincial for a period of six years, using a system of proportional representation.

===Later revisions===
In 1938 there was a minor revision, introducing some elements of the then fashionable [[corporatism]] by giving a constitutional base to public bodies regulating sectors of the economy. A proposal to make it possible to impeach "revolutionary" members of representative bodies, directed against communists and fascists, failed to get a two-thirds majority.

After [[World War II]] in 1946 a revision failed attempting to simplify the revisional procedure. However, a change was accepted allowing to send conscripts to the colonial war in the [[Dutch East Indies]]. In the revision of 1948 a complete new chapter was added to facilitate the incorporation of the new state of [[Indonesia]] within the Kingdom under the [[Netherlands-Indonesia Union]]. Soon it would become irrelevant as Indonesia severed all ties with the Netherlands in 1954. The revision also created the office of [[secretary of state]], a kind of [[junior minister]] but one fully subordinate to a certain minister. In 1953 new articles were introduced concerning international relations, as the Netherlands was abandoning its old policy of strict neutrality. In the revision of 1956 the constitution was changed to accommodate the full independence of Indonesia. The number of members of the House of Representatives members was brought up to 150, of Senate members to 75. The revision of 1963 accommodated the loss of [[Dutch New Guinea]] to Indonesia. The [[voting age]] was lowered from 23 to 21. In 1972 there was a minor revision; the main change was a lowering of the voting age to 18.

In 1983 the constitution was almost entirely rewritten. Many articles were abolished. [[Social rights]] were included, most articles were reformulated (the main exception being article 23 about the still sensitive freedom of education) using a new uniform legal terminology and their sequence was changed. The bill of rights was expanded with a [[prohibition of discrimination]], a [[prohibition of the death penalty]], a general [[freedom of expression]], the [[Demonstration (people)|freedom of demonstration]] and a general [[right to privacy]].

In 1987 there was a minor revision. In the revision of 1995 the introduction of a professional army, replacing the conscript army, was regulated. In the revision of 1999 a proposal to introduce an [[advisory referendum]] was rejected by the Senate. After a minor revision in 2002, the last changes were made in 2005; a proposal to introduce an elected mayor was rejected by the Senate.