In the Netherlands, the Criminal Code also provides rules for the additional penalty of deprivation of rights, including the right to be elected.This additional penalty can only be attached to conviction and punishment of specific crimes, named in the law. They are mainly situated in Title I (Crimes against the security of the state) and Part XXVIII (Offences committed while in office) of the Criminal Code.
In addition, in the case of the offences described in the articles Z1, Z2 and Z3 of the Elections Act, if an individual is sentenced and imprisoned for at least one year, he or she can be deprived of the right to vote. The deprivation of the right to vote and to be elected has been applied on a large scale after World War II to members of the Nationalist Social Movement (NSB). The latest information from the Electoral Council shows that some of these people are still alive. Since the deprivation of the right to vote was for life, they are still not able to stand as a candidate or vote.
Furthermore, as political parties are considered to be private organisations and should take the form of an association, they can be prohibited under Article 2:20 of the Dutch Civil Code. Article 140 of the Criminal Code stipulates that it is a crime to continue the work of an organisation that is prohibited and dissolved by a court. If it is proven that a candidate is attempting to continue the activities or the political programme of a previously banned political party, it is possible to use this provision to prosecute the candidates or leaders of this party individually. Two parties were banned and declared dissolved under the Decree on dissolution of treacherous organisations. This decision was taken by the Dutch government in exile in London. In 1944, the NSB and its related and other Nazi and fascist organisations were banned. The decision also stated that all organisations that aimed to continue the efforts of one or more of these organisations to seek conflict within the Dutch society should be regarded as associations against public order. Under this provision the National European Social Movement was also banned in 1953. In 1978, the Nederlandse Volksunie was prohibited, because of its racist nature and its resort to violent means to reach its goal. Its founder tried to participate in the next election under a different party name (lijst Glimmerveen), but was prohibited to do so in certain regions of the country. This is the only instance where a candidate was refused the right to run for elections based on the prohibition of a party of which he was the leader. On 18 November 1998, the Amsterdam District court banned and dissolved the CP’86, another right wing party that often used racial languages and motivated its followers to use violence against foreigners.
(Burimi: Komisioni i Venecias, https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2015)019-e)
