Tijdschrift voor Religie, Recht en Beleid

Samenvatting

The SGP (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij) is a Dutch political party based on a religious denomination, a particular form of Reformed Christianity. The party has been represented in Parliament since 1918. As a result of its religious views, which extends to issues of male – female roles in society, it does not allow women to be elected in a general representative body on its behalf. This was challenged in court by a number of special interest organizations. The organizations were not successful in their suit against the SGP for reasons of inadmissibility. However, they were successful in terms of admissibility and of substance in their suit against the Dutch State. In April 2010, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that the Dutch State acted unlawfully by tolerating the fact that the SGP excludes women as candidates for elections on its behalf. The State was regarded as violating the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (the CEDAW), notably Article 7 under a and c. It ordered the State to take effective measures which, at the same time, restrict the SGP’s fundamental rights (freedom of religion and association)as least as possible. This contribution discusses the Supreme Court ruling.