Government Gazette of the Kingdom of the Netherlands / Government Gazette 2020, 63439
Decree of the Minister for Legal Protection of 30 November 2020, no.3114150, establishing a Committee of independent experts on the investigation of domestic distance and adoption (Decree Establishing the Committee of Independent Experts on Domestic Distance and Adoption)
The Minister for Legal Protection,
In view of Section 2, subsection 1, of the Advisory Boards and Committees Remuneration Act;
Decision:
Article 1 Definitions
The following definitions apply in this decision:
a. Minister:
the Minister for Legal Protection;
b. Ministry:
the Ministry of Justice and Security;
c. Commission:
the Committee of Independent Experts on the Investigation of Domestic Distance and Adoption, referred to in Article 2, paragraph 1;
d. Registration point:
the National Distance and Adoption Application Point;
e. Fiom:
the Ambulante Fiom foundation (Federation of Institutions for Unmarried Mothers);
f. Workgroup:
the Working Group on Domestic Distance and Adoption;
g. WODC:
the Scientific Research and Documentation Center of the Ministry of Justice and Security;
h. ADR:
National Audit Service;
i. Research:
the research 'Domestic distance and adoption between 1956 - 1984' by the Verwey-Jonker Institute;
j. Scheme for scientific independence WODC:
Regulation of the Minister of Justice and Security and the Minister for Legal Protection of 25 November 2019 no.2710533 regarding the scientific independence of the Scientific Research and Documentation Center of the Ministry of Justice and Security.
Article 2 Institution and task
1.There is a Committee of Independent Experts on the Investigation of Domestic Distance and Adoption.
2.The task of the Commission is to:
a.to reflect on the structure and functioning of the Application Point and to discuss this with the Ministry, FIOM, participants in the Working Group, the WODC and the Verwey-Jonker Institute. The Committee pays special attention to the position of distance mothers, distance fathers, distance children and adoptees in this process and their experiences with the Application Point.
b.to assess, partly on the basis of the reflections of the Committee and the results of an investigation by the ADR, the design and structure of the verification and correction procedure for the reports of the testimonials at the Application Point. The assignment to ADR will be coordinated with the Commission for this purpose.
c.to make recommendations relating to the design and implementation of this verification and correction procedure and to the cooperation between the Ministry and the participants in the Working Group.
3.In accordance with the WODC Scientific Independence Regulations, the task does not extend to research.
Article 3 Appointment of members
The following are appointed members of the Commission:
1.Mrs. Prof. Dr. Catrin Finkenauer, also chairman;
2.Mrs. Prof. Wendy Schrama.
Article 4 Term of office
1.The Commission shall be established as of the date of entry into force of this Decision and shall be abolished as of 1 March 2021.
2.The Minister may decide to extend the term of appointment of the Committee until 1 May 2021.
Article 5. Final report and interim reports
1.The Committee submits its final report to the Minister at the end of its term of office.
2.The Committee is authorized to issue one or more interim reports if required.
Article 6 Support
The Minister provides the secretariat for the Committee, which provides the necessary facilities for the activities of the Committee.
Article 7 Procedure
1.The Committee establishes its own working method.
2.The Commission may request the assistance of other persons as it deems necessary for the performance of its duties.
3.On request, the Committee will provide the Minister with the information required to perform his duties. The Minister may demand inspection of business data and documents insofar as this is reasonably necessary for the performance of his duties.
Article 8 Collection of information and duty to cooperate
1.The Committee is authorized to make inquiries to persons and institutions and to request them to provide such cooperation as is reasonably necessary for the performance of its activities.
2.The Ministry provides the Committee with the required cooperation within the applicable legal frameworks.
Article 9 Compensation
The members of the Committee are granted a fixed monthly payment, whereby the salary scale is set at scale 18, step 10, of Annex B of the Remuneration Decree Civil Civil Servants 1984 and the working hours factor at 0.2 FTE for Prof. Dr. Catrin Finkenauer and 0.1 FTE for Prof. Wendy Schrama.
Article 10 Costs
1.The costs of the Commission will be borne by the Minister. Costs include in any case:
a.the costs for meeting facilities;
b.the costs of engaging external expertise;
c.the costs for publication of the final report.
2.The financial administration is a provision as referred to in Article 6.
Article 11 Archive documents
The Committee shall transfer the documents relating to its activities to the archives of the Ministry as soon as possible after the termination of its activities or, if circumstances warrant it, as soon as possible.
Article 12 Entry into force
1.This Decree shall enter into force on the day after the date of issue of the Government Gazette in which it is published.
2.This decision will expire on 1 May 2021.
Article 13 Official title
This decision is cited as: Decree establishing the Committee of independent experts on renunciation and adoption. This decision, together with the explanatory notes, will be published in the Government Gazette and a copy will be sent to the members of the Committee.
The Minister for Legal Protection,
S. Dekker
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
On July 2, 2020, the House of Representatives accepted the Bergkamp cs motion. 1In this motion, the government is asked 'to request an expert of stature in the short term to reflect on the approach to the investigation so far, to enter into dialogue with all parties to this end, and to come up with recommendations on how this investigation can be can be tackled and taken further in a careful and scientifically responsible manner, and the House can be informed about this. ' The research to which the motion refers is the research 'Internal Distance and Adoption between 1956 - 1984'. This research is carried out by the Verwey-Jonker Institute on behalf of the WODC. In order to guarantee the independence of both WODC and Verwey-Jonker Institute, In order to implement the motion, the Committee will focus on the activities of the Application Point and not on the investigation. The Application Point is closed as of July 31, 2020. However, the activities of the Application Point are central to the verification and correction procedure for the reports of the testimonials at the Application Point. The Committee can therefore no longer address its recommendations with regard to the Application Point or (for the above reason) to the investigation, but with regard to the verification and correction procedure. However, the activities of the Application Point are central to the verification and correction procedure for the reports of the testimonials at the Application Point. The Committee can therefore no longer address its recommendations with regard to the Application Point or (for the above reason) to the investigation, but with regard to the verification and correction procedure. However, the activities of the Application Point are central to the verification and correction procedure for the reports of the testimonials at the Application Point. The Committee can therefore no longer address its recommendations with regard to the Application Point or (for the above reason) to the investigation, but with regard to the verification and correction procedure.
As considered in the motion, the Committee's work will have to contribute to restoring the confidence of stakeholders in domestic distance and adoption in the investigation. That is why the independent experts pay special attention to the position of distance mothers, distance fathers, distance children and adoptees in their experiences with the Application Point. They have already indicated that they are prepared to explain their experiences in discussions with the Commission. Based on its reflections, the Committee can also make recommendations with a view to restoring trust among stakeholders. This also implements the motion.
The Committee ends its activities by submitting a final report to the Minister, in which the Committee describes its reflections and recommendations. The Committee may at any time address the Minister to inform him and to make proposals within its area of ??responsibility. More specifically, the Commission will be asked to give priority to assessing the structure of the verification and correction procedure. This will only be carried out if the independent experts have positively assessed the installation. In order to enable the independent experts to do so, the Commission will be able to comment on the investigation mandate to ADR. The ADR will investigate whether the design of the verification and correction procedure contains sufficient guarantees for the protection of personal data of applicants. In the letter of 23 November 2020 from the Minister to the House of Representatives, it was already stated that Prof. Dr. Catrin Finkenauer and Prof. Mr. Wendy Schrama of Utrecht University have been found willing to fulfill the role of independent expert.
The Committee will start its activities on the first day after this decision has been published in the Government Gazette and its activities will end on 1 March 2021 or on 1 May 2021, if the Minister extends the term of appointment of the Committee until that date. The chairman will perform her duties 4 days a month. The other member of the Commission 2 days a month. The Commission is free to organize its activities according to its own wishes. The Ministry will make a secretary available to the Commission to support it.
The Minister for Legal Protection,
S. Dekker
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Parliamentary papers II, 2019-2020, 31 265, no. 71
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