You might not have noticed, but we’ve been lacking a government for the past 200ish days. The economy only grew faster however as the Dutch keep things running smoothly even without leadership. Today, however, the new government officially presented their plan for running the country for the next four years, and with it came quite a bit of criminal justice reform. So for all our criminal expats here’s a short summary of what will be changing in the coming year by the New Dutch Government.
Strengthening the justice system
While the previous government mostly applied spending cuts to the police, the DA and the judiciary, this government will begin investing again and focus specifically on Terrorism, human trade and combating illegal pimps. They’ll also invest about 95 million in cybersecurity, as those Nigerian princes trying to get your bank details are apparently quite a large problem.
You might not know this but the Dutch have quite the problem with organized crime, and thus the next cabinet will refocus efforts to deal with criminal biker gangs such as Satudarah. Whether this will prove to be effective remains to be seen, but I suppose stopping biker gangs is a worthwhile effort.
Experimenting with government-grown weed
If you know anything about the Dutch system for governing coffeeshops, you know it’s ridiculous. Currently it is legal to buy marijuana and grow up to five plants, but it is illegal for the coffeeshops to actually purchase the project they’re selling. Now the government will experiment in 10 municipalities with government-grown weed intended to regulate the backdoor through which most of the pot arrives. This is a good thing as right now there’s no telling what the growers use in terms of pesticides to protect their crop. And while there’s no definitive research that states smoking pot laced with pesticides is a bad thing, common sense says smoking things that kill bugs is never a good idea
Extremism and freedom of speech
The new government also has some initiatives that are supposed to combat extremism in all its forms. For instance, the penalty for insulting and spreading hate will be doubled from one year to two. This is relevant to one of our most extreme politicians in particular, Geert Wilders, who was convicted under the article which is now being expanded. This will probably prove to be one of the more controversial new policies but it is a welcome one regardless.
Finally, those who return from an area under control of terrorists will be held in arrest, and staying in one of these areas voluntarily will be punishable. How this will work out for humanitarian aid workers is yet a mystery, although it likely won’t affect them as it is aimed at those leaving to join Islamic State.
What do you think about these new initiatives? Leave a comment!