Concluding Remarks
To the extent constitutional norms coincide with provisions of treaties or of resolutions issued by international organizations, the Dutch ban on judicial review may be bypassed.
Where the only relevant frame of reference for the permissibility of bills is the national Constitution, however, the advisory opinions from the Council of State are the next best thing to urge the Dutch legislature to respect the national Constitution. The type of assessment the Council provides is not a surrogate for judicial review, but it would be a waste of useful expertise and experience to disregard similarities between the way courts contribute to constitutional dialogues and what may be expected of an advisor who presents himself as a guardian of the Constitution. On another occasion, I have relied on these ideas to analyse four decades of advisory opinions rendered by the Council of State.[847]1 concluded that the Council of State’s legislative advice provides a countervailing power in debates on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. On the other hand, my research has also revealed shortcomings in how the Council of State participates in constitutional dialogues. My findings led me to conclude that the Council of State’s legislative advice on the selected topics is precarious in its degree and method of addressing issues of constitutionality. These inadequacies make it troublesome for the legislature to unquestioningly rely on its primary advisor when testing bills against the Constitution.
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