Personnel Risk:
Very Low
Score:
86/100
Leadership Behaviour
Q34
83/100
Do the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister, Chiefs of Defence, and Single Service Chiefs publicly commit, through, for example, speeches, media interviews, or political mandates, to anti-corruption and integrity measures?
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Notable progress has been made with regard to integrity and anti-corruption in recent years. Former Chief of Defence Tom Middendorp resigned from his position…
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Communications by top-level officers and ministers demonstrate commitment to anti-corruption, integrity and good governance, but these officials generally do not publicly engage with media…
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Following some scandals within various services/units, social safety (as mentioned by the assessor) has been prioritised. Consequently, there has been a surge in attention…
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Q35
88/100
Are there effective measures in place for personnel found to have taken part in forms of bribery and corruption, and is there evidence that these measures are being carried out?
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Under the Dutch Criminal Code (DCC), it is unlawful to engage a public official in active bribery, that is, offering or giving a gift,…
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Local police forces can investigate bribery and corruption of public officials, but when allegations involve high-ranking public officials, the National Police Internal Investigations Department,…
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Q36
58/100
Is whistleblowing encouraged by the government, and are whistle-blowers in military and defence ministries afforded adequate protection from reprisal for reporting evidence of corruption, in both law and practice?
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Following several years of public debate, the Whistleblowers Authority Act came into force in 2016. The Act requires all organisations in the Netherlands (including…
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Whistleblowing procedures are encouraged through integrity training workshops and information shared in ‘Code of Conduct’-type documents. In 2018, the Defence Integrity Reporting Centre (which…
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Despite there being adequate protections in theory, officials and personnel may doubt that whistleblowers are adequately protected in practice [1]. One respondent referenced the…
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Q37
100/100
Is special attention paid to the selection, time in post, and oversight of personnel in sensitive positions, including officials and personnel in defence procurement, contracting, financial management, and commercial management?
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Special attention is paid to government personnel in sensitive positions. The Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) investigates (potential) employees for possible indications of…
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Recruitment processes for senior positions within the Ministry of Defence, i.e. those which involve decision-making in procurement, recruitment, contracting, finance or commerce, are part…
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The recruitment, scrutiny and appointment of personnel in high-level, decision-making positions in defence (on or above Scale 15) are conducted by the government General…
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Payroll, Promotions, Appointments, Rewards
Q38
92/100
Is the number of civilian and military personnel accurately known and publicly available?
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The number of civilian and military personnel is published in personnel reports that are delivered to Parliament and uploaded online every six months (an…
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Personnel reports are published online by the Ministry of Defence [1,2]. Personnel numbers are disaggregated on multiple levels, including by gender, service type (military,…
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There is no indication or reports of ghost soldiers in the past 5 years. The last found record of ghost soldiers was in 2009,…
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Q39
100/100
Are pay rates and allowances for civilian and military personnel openly published?
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The salaries of all civilian and military personnel, disaggregated by level, are listed and published as part of an annex of the legislation that…
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Allowances for all civilian and military personnel are openly published, including the criteria for eligibility and calculation methods. Employment condition agreements (as well as…
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Q40
92/100
Do personnel receive the correct pay on time, and is the system of payment well-established, routine, and published?
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Personnel receive pay on time, which is usually monthly before the 25th of the month, in accordance with Dutch standards [1,2,3,4].
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The standard salary is always paid accurately and on time. However, very occasionally, some allowances and additional bonuses are not factored into the total…
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The payments and allowances scheme is published online and includes pay brackets for all ranks, pay scales (0-38) and service types (civilian, military) [1].…
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Q41
50/100
Is there an established, independent, transparent, and objective appointment system for the selection of military personnel at middle and top management level?
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The system of appointment for top management positions of the military personnel occurs through laid out processes and is based on the General Military…
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For high-profile military positions, which fall under the TMG vacancy process, a Preselection Committee (VSC) monitors the objectivity of the preselection phase in accordance…
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Information on the appointment process for top management is available online [1,2]. However, this information only covers pay scales 15 to 18, which means…
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Q42
58/100
Are personnel promoted through an objective, meritocratic process? Such a process would include promotion boards outside of the command chain, strong formal appraisal processes, and independent oversight.
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Military personnel have a strict rotation policy where they must move to a new position every three years [1]. The Personnel Department of the…
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As a general rule, formal processes are the only way to be promoted. In practice, battlefield promotions are extremely rare [1]. If a position…
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Promotions are announced for all officers between OF-10 and OF-3 on the internal staff intranet and include name, rank, new position and effective date…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’, given that, with the exception of the appointments of general officers to key positions, which are published whenever…
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Conscription and Recruitment
Q43
NA/100
Where compulsory conscription occurs, is there a policy of not accepting bribes for avoiding conscription? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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While conscription still officially exists in the Netherlands, compulsory attendance was suspended in 1997. This means that each person, upon turning 17, receives a…
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While conscription still officially exists in the Netherlands, compulsory attendance was suspended in 1997. This means that each person, upon turning 17, receives a…
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While conscription still officially exists in the Netherlands, compulsory attendance was suspended in 1997. This means that each person, upon turning 17, receives a…
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Q44
100/100
is there a policy of refusing bribes to gain preferred postings? Are there appropriate procedures in place to deal with such bribery, and are they applied?
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Bribery for the purpose of soliciting preferred postings is clearly prohibited according to the Dutch Criminal Code, which, under Articles 363 and 178, forbids…
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Integrity violations (which include the acceptance of bribes for the purpose of favourably allocating a position) are investigated through the formal processes outlined in…
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This indicator has been marked ‘Not Applicable’. There are no known cases of bribery to gain preferred postings for the period of research for…
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Salary Chain
The Human Resources Service Centre handles HR regulations and personnel administration, including the payment of salaries and obtainment of allowances and entitlements [1]. The…
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Values and Standards
Q46
94/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all military personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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There are Codes of Conduct relevant to all military and civilian personnel which address bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest and post-separation activities.…
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The codes mentioned in Q46A – the General Military Personnel Code and ‘Implementation of Defence Integrity Policy’ – are publicly available [1,2].
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In terms of enforcement, breaches of the Code of Conduct by military personnel are regularly investigated and cases are pursued where there is evidence…
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In all basic military training, the Code of Conduct for Defence is used, not simply as an abstract reference document, but more meaningfully as…
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Q47
100/100
Is there a Code of Conduct for all civilian personnel that includes, but is not limited to, guidance with respect to bribery, gifts and hospitality, conflicts of interest, and post-separation activities? Is there evidence that breaches of the Code of Conduct are effectively addressed?
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For civilian personnel in the defence sector, Chapter 7a (‘Integrity’) of the Civilian Defence Personnel Code (Dutch: Burgerlijk ambtenarenreglement defensie) includes provisions on bribery,…
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The codes mentioned in Q47A (the Civilian Defence Personnel Code and ‘Implementation of Defence Integrity Policy’) are publicly available [1]. The most recent iteration…
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In terms of enforcement, breaches of the Code of Conduct by civilian personnel are regularly investigated and cases are pursued where there is evidence…
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The induction training for civilian personnel includes guidance on the Code of Conduct for Defence [1]. However, it is noted that, in some cases,…
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Q48
83/100
Does regular anti-corruption training take place for military and civilian personnel?
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According to the MoD, the preventative training programmes conducted by the COID cover a range of topics, including organisational integrity policy, regulations, the application…
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Preventative integrity training programmes are a primary part of the education/promotion courses given to military personnel when they apply for new roles and are…
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According to the COID, anti-corruption training is conducted at all levels of the military and defence civil service [1]. However, the military personnel interviewed…
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Q49
83/100
Is there a policy to make public outcomes of the prosecution of defence services personnel for corrupt activities, and is there evidence of effective prosecutions in recent years?
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While there is no formal policy described in the ‘Designation on Investigating and Handling Military Cases’ that mandates the Military Chamber or Civil Courts…
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Since cases that involve the armed forces and the military are of high public interest, many such cases and their accompanying summary reports are…
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In 1991, the Netherlands abolished the court-martial and the Military Chamber was merged into the rest of the criminal justice system and reformed to…
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Q50
100/100
Are there effective measures in place to discourage facilitation payments (which are illegal in almost all countries)?
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Facilitation payments are criminalised under the Dutch Criminal Code, which, in Articles 363 and 178, forbids personnel from both receiving payments in return for…
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Cases of facilitation payments are investigated through the formal processes outlined in Chapter 6 of ‘Implementation of Defence Integrity Policy’ [1]. This process may…
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There is no evidence to suggest that facilitation payments are common practice in the Netherlands and the culture within the defence sector stipulates that…
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