The Hague – On 11-12 September 2023 a delegation of the Venice Commission and the Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) of the Council of Europe conducted a visit to the Netherlands in the framework of the preparation of the draft joint opinion on the Judicial Act and the independence of the judiciary. The rapporteurs met with the following representatives of the authorities :

• the President of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands;
• the Vice-President of the Council of State and the Head of the Administrative Law Department;
• the President and other representatives of the Council for the Judiciary;
• the Attorney General;
• the Head of International Department of the Public Prosecutor’s Office;
• MPs members of different political parties and members of the Committee for Justice and Security of the House of Representatives;
• the Director of the European and International Affairs Department (DEIA) and the Director of the Department for the Legal System of the Ministry of Justice and Security;
• the President of the Association for the Judiciary of the Netherlands;
• academics.

The draft joint opinion will be submitted for adoption at the 136th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission (6-7 October 2023). It was requested by the Chair of the Monitoring Committee of the PACE.