Netherlands State Commission on the Rule of Law chaired by DOI's Henk Kummeling releases its findings

On 10 June 2024, the Netherlands State Commission on the Rule of Law, chaired by Prof Henk Kummeling (Extraordinary Professor at the Dullah Omar Institute) released its findings in a report titled “The Broken Promise of the Rule of Law”.

While the Report deals with the functioning of the rule of law in the Netherlands, many of its findings and recommendations resonate globally, including in South Africa.

The Netherlands State Commission Report on the Rule of Law details how the promise of the rule of law is not being fulfilled for a significant group of citizens. This is due to political decision making or failure to do so. Too often, the rule of law does not guide the actions of politicians, administrators and government employees. Government has become too complicated and legal protection is lacking. The Commission makes ten citizen-centred improvement proposals to fulfil the promise of the rule of law.

An English version of the report is available here.

In February 2024, the SARChl Chair in Multilevel Government hosted a hybrid seminar on ‘A citizen’s perspective on the rule of law: Democracy and elections in South Africa’ at the University of the Western CapeThe seminar focused on a citizen-centred approach to the rule of law, with Prof Kummeling as one of the speakers. The recording of the seminar is available here