Artikel : General provision
The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights and democracy based on the rule of law.
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Please note: Only the Dutch-language version of the Constitution has legal effect.
In a democracy, the people rule, but the people cannot decide on every administrative act or law. Therefore, most countries, including the Netherlands, have a representative or indirect democracy. This entails that the people elect a number of representatives who, on behalf of the people, make laws and take decisions regarding the governance of the country.
A constitutional state is a state in which freedom, legal certainty, and legal equality are important to the citizen. Moreover, the citizen enjoys protection of their rights and freedoms, against fellow citizens as well as against the government. A citizen then knows where they stand regarding rights and obligations. A democratic constitutional state is therefore a country in which the rule of law has been established in a democratic manner.
This general provision, which was added to the Constitution before Article 1 in 2022, now stipulates that the Constitution must guarantee the democratic constitutional state and safeguard fundamental rights. This means that the legislator must examine, with every amendment to the Constitution, whether the democratic constitutional state is still guaranteed and whether fundamental rights remain safeguarded.