Tweede Kamer

The Tweede Kamer is the second chamber or lower house of the Staten-Generaal, the parliament in the Netherlands. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation system. The seat of the Tweede Kamer is located in The Hague.

Functions

The Tweede Kamer is the main chamber of parliament, where discussion of proposed legislation and review of the actions of the cabinet takes place. The cabinet, consisting of the Prime Minister, other ministers and state secretaries is appointed by the Monarch of the Netherlands. In practice, the Monarch appoints a formateur (mediatior) to explore possibilities for parties of the Tweede Kamer to form a governing coalition and find suitable persons for the cabinet. It is not possible for somebody to be a member of both parliament and cabinet, except in the special case where the cabinet has tendered its resignation.

Related Topics:
Legislation - Cabinet - Prime Minister - Monarch of the Netherlands

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The Tweede Kamer is also responsible for the selection of judges to the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden).

Related Topics:
Judge - Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

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