Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

[deleted] t1_j4rlryf wrote

Reply to comment by bewarethetreebadger in Dutch Constitution to be amended to ban discrimination based on sexuality or disability by DutchBlob

I guess, sure. That said, it changes nothing practically because it was always impossible to even cite the Dutch constitution in case in the first place. After all, the Dutch constitution forbids judges from ruling on the basis of the Dutch constitution.

4

persianbrothel t1_j4umzqb wrote

it avoids potential future shenanigans

1

[deleted] t1_j4une28 wrote

Again, not really. It was always implicitly in the Dutch constitution. Moreover, judges cannot test legislation for constitutionality anyway. Whether legislation aligns with the Dutch constitution is mostly a political decision.

The reason given for this change is to give more explicit support as a symbol lto LGBT and disabled people. From the beginning, it was meant to be a symbolic change.

2

persianbrothel t1_j4uo2xq wrote

>It was always implicitly in the Dutch constitution

>Whether legislation aligns with the Dutch constitution is mostly a political decision

so explicit wording eliminates any room for bad faith interpretations in the future - no matter how slim that possibility may be.

it's a more symbolic decision than a practical one - but it does eliminate interpretation.

1

[deleted] t1_j4uoyxl wrote

> so explicit wording eliminates any room for bad faith interpretations in the future - no matter how slim that possibility may be.

Again, no. The Dutch constitution literally specifies “discrimination under any ground is not allowed”. Unless disability or sexual orientation does not fall under “any ground”, it does nothing to change anything.

And again, the Dutch constitution is literally designed to ensure that constitutionality of legislation cannot be tested in court. With enough political will, the senate and parliament can contradict the constitution. By design, politicians decide whether legislation aligns with the constitution. And if it doesn’t, legislation cannot be thrown out by courts.

If that political will exists, they can obviously just change the constitution again (and the constitution gets changed frequently).

And anyway, international treaties signed take precedence over the Dutch constitution - again, by design.

1