Politicians should take responsibility for their own laws, says legal chief
Dutch NewsPoliticians should take responsibility for their own laws and stop pointing at judges who make rulings they disagree with, the chairman of the Dutch council for the judiciary has said in his traditional New Year’s speech. ‘Stop hiding behind our robes and take responsibility for the law-making and decision-taking which is apparently falling short,’ Henk Naves said in his speech. ‘Judges apply the law as it has been established by lawmakers and test compliance with international treaties which have been adopted by parliament,’ he said. ‘These are rules which the government has to adhere to as well.’ Judges at the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, came under fire last May for finding that the government was not doing enough to cut nitrogen compound pollution in line with the law.