Ministry of Security and Justice (Netherlands)
| Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie | |
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Coat of arms of the Netherlands | |
 Current head office | |
| Department overview | |
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| Formed | March 12, 1798 |
| Jurisdiction | Kingdom of the Netherlands |
| Headquarters | Schedeldoekshaven 100, The Hague, Netherlands |
| Employees | 30,000 |
| Annual budget | €9,8 billion (2013)[1] |
| Minister responsible |
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| Website | Ministry of Security and Justice |
The Ministry of Security and Justice (Dutch: Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie; VenJ) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for Justice and Public safety. The Ministry was created in 1798 as the Department of Justice and in 1876 became the Ministry of Justice, in 2010 it has taken over the Public safety duties from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and became Ministry of Security and Justice. The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Security and Justice, Ard van der Steur.
![Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)](../I/m/State_coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.svg.png) |
| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Netherlands |
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Local government |
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Responsibilities
The Ministry has the legal tasks of:
- providing workable legislation for the public, the government and the courts;
- preventing crime, in order to build a safer society;
- protecting youth and children;
- enforcing the law, in order to build a safer society;
- providing independent, accessible and effective administration of justice and legal aid;
- providing support to the victims of crime;
- providing fair, consistent and effective enforcement of punishment and other sanctions;
- regulating immigration into the Netherlands.
It is also responsible for the coordination of counter-terrorism policy.
Because it shares so many responsibilities, and has twin buildings (both old and new) with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, they are sometimes called the twin ministries.
Organisation
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The ministry is currently headed by one minister and one State Secretary, Klaas Dijkhoff. It employs almost 30,000 civil servants, located at the ministry in the Hague and all around the Netherlands. The ministry's main office is located in the centre of the Hague in the same building as the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The civil service is headed by a secretary-general and a deputy secretary-general, who head a system of three directorates-general:
- The Directorate-General for Legislation, International Affairs and Immigration
- The Directorate-General for Prevention, Youth and Sanctions
- The Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice and Law Enforcement
The Board of Procurators General (in Dutch: Raad van Procureurs-Generaal) which heads the Public Prosecution Service (in Dutch: Openbaar Ministerie, OM) is a relatively independent organisation which forms part of the Judiciary and prosecutes persons suspected of breaking the law.
The Netherlands Forensic Institute is an autonomous division of the Ministry of Justice, falling under the Directorate-General for the Administration of Justice and Law Enforcement.
The Custodial Institutions Agency is an agency of the ministry.
References
- ↑ (Dutch) VI Veiligheid en Justitie, Rijksoverheid, 18 September 2012
External links
- Official
- (Dutch) Ministry of Security and Justice Rijksoverheid
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