The Dutch council for the judiciary, or Raad voor de Rechtspraak, wants to end the role of ministers in naming people to its board.

The council was founded in 2002 to ensure judges can do their work properly and defends the interests of the judiciary in politics. However, the justice minister has the power to stop people being appointed to the council.

Although this has not happened so far, chairman Henk Naves said in a speech at the council’s New Year reception that the move is necessary to stop potential political interference as took place in Poland and Hungary,.

The Netherlands, he says, has a strong legal culture, but that culture alone is not enough to protect the legal system in the long term.

“Worldwide, legal systems are coming under pressure,” Naves said. “We have to ask ourselves if we are ready to deal with a similar situation occurring here.”

Currently, the justice minister can influence who joins the council, which appoints appeal court judges, who in turn appoint lower court judges. It would be a “nightmare” if politicians started interfering with this, Naves said.

A parliamentary motion by D66 MP Joost Sneller to restrict the role of the minister as much as possible won a majority in the lower house, although three of the four coalition parties voted against.