Dutch courts sometimes conform to the legal rules of other countries, but they are always watching for violations of the Dutch legal system and of human rights. Dutch laws always take precedence, Deputy Justice Minister Fred Teeven said on Thursday.
Mr Teeven spoke in response to questions from Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party about the influence of Islamic law or Sharia on sentences passed in the Netherlands. According to the deputy minister, the relationship between the two is “negligible.”
MPs from the Labour, Socialist and Green Left parties expressed unease that the Freedom Party would suggest a link between Sharia and Dutch law. “You are trying to frighten people with myths, to incite them against something that does not exist,” said Labour MP Martijn van Dam.