Vice-President of the Council of State (Netherlands)

Vice-President of the Council of State of the Netherlands
Vice-President van de Raad van State
State Coat of arms of the Netherlands
Flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Vice-President of the Council of State
Incumbent
Thom de Graaf
since 1 November 2018
Member ofCouncil of State
NominatorMinister of the Interior
and Kingdom Relations
AppointerMonarch
Term lengthLife tenure until the
age of 70
Formation12 April 1814; 210 years ago (1814-04-12)
First holderGijsbert Karel van Hogendorp
Unofficial namesViceroy of the Netherlands [1][2]
WebsiteThe Council of State
Part of the Politics series
Politics of the Netherlands
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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The vice-president of the Council of State (Dutch: Vice-President van de Raad van State) is the de facto presiding officer of the Council of State.[3] The monarch serves as the ex officio president of the Council of State but in reality seldom chairs meetings, in his absence, the vice-president serves as pro tempore chair of those meetings. The vice-president is also in charge of the council's organisation and administrative duties. The Constitution of the Netherlands stipulates that if the royal house were to become extinct the vice-president will become the acting head of state. Like the other members of the Council of State the vice president is appointed by the monarch upon nomination by the minister of the interior and kingdom relations. The service of the vice-president is a life tenure appointment but is required by law to enter a mandatory retirement at the age of 70. Alternatively, an early retirement or a forced termination of his tenure can be given by the monarch in a royal decree.[4]

The current vice-president of the Council of State is Thom de Graaf.[5]

  1. ^ "Donner onderkoning van Nederland?" (in Dutch). EenVandaag. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  2. ^ "'Onderkoning van Nederland'" (in Dutch). Telegraaf. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  3. ^ "The Council of State". The Council of State. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Wet op de Raad van State". The Council of State. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  5. ^ "De Raad van State wil zichzelf hervormen. Voor De Graaf, de nieuwe vicevoorzitter, is er werk aan de winkel". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 31 October 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.