The First Chamber rejected a bill on Tuesday to ban motorcycle gangs more quickly. That proposal had previously received criticism from several quarters. It would pave the way for politicians to impose a ban on other organizations as well.
At the last moment, the bill on “undermining organizations” did not stand on Tuesday. Only JA21 and three submitters of the law, SGP, CDA and VVD, voted in favor. The rest of the Senate, including doubter BBB, voted against.
As a result, Justice Minister David van Weel will not be given the power to determine which organizations should be banned. The law would in fact make it possible for the minister to ban criminal organizations such as motorcycle gangs, without the intervention of a judge. The law was submitted in 2018 by a group of members of parliament from PvdA, VVD, CDA, SGP and ChristenUnie. Two years later, the House of Representatives adopted the law with a large majority.
The proposal had previously met with resistance. GroenLinks-PvdA recently turned against its own proposal, because the party feared that the law could be used against non-criminal organizations and activists. Does that not affect the Constitution, which enshrines freedom of association?
The BBB also guarded against this. The party – together with GroenLinks-PvdA the largest in the Senate – openly doubted the proposal last week. Other doubting parties, such as D66 and ChristenUnie, wondered last week during a debate whether a minister should have that power. In recent years, seven criminal motorcycle gangs have already been banned by the court due to stricter rules, such as the Hells Angels and Satudarah.
Experts and NGOs also have doubts, and the Council of State has already issued a negative opinion. You can read more context in the article below.
Motorcycle gangs can return in another form
Three of the five submitters of the bill continued to support it despite the doubts and criticism. The VVD thought the law was necessary because illegal motorcycle organizations sometimes return after a ban, but then packaged in a new club.
Sometimes you have to be able to act quickly, was the argument. According to the party, this is not the case if a judge has to look at it first. According to the bill, that judge could still intervene if the ban was not justified.
But due to Tuesday’s vote, the responsibility remains with the judge for the time being and not with the politicians.