Sander Dekker (born 9 February 1975) is a Dutch politician who served as Minister for Legal Protection in the

Third Rutte cabinet The third Rutte cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022 (since 15 January 2021 demissionary). It was formed by a coalition government of the political parties People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ...

from 2017 to 2022. A member of the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie ; VVD) is a conservative-liberal Andeweg, R. and G. Irwin ''Politics and Governance in the Netherlands'', Basingstoke (Palgrave) p.49 political party i ...

(VVD), he previously served as State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science under the

Second Rutte cabinet The second Rutte cabinet, also called the Rutte–Asscher cabinet, was the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands from 5 November 2012 until 26 October 2017. The cabinet was formed by the conservative-liberal People's Party for ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Biography

Early life

Dekker was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

.Drs. S. (Sander) Dekker
Parlement & Politiek. Retrieved 14 January 2016. He went to primary and secondary school in

Zoetermeer Zoetermeer () is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6,392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123,328 ...

. He studied

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment ( public governance), management of non-profit es ...

at Leiden University (1993–1999). After his studies, Dekker worked as a researcher and teacher at Leiden University, most notably on matters of police and justice. In 2001, he was a visiting researcher at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Centre for European Politics, Economics and Society.

Politics

Dekker served as State Secretary at the

Ministry of Education, Culture and Science The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science ( nl, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschappen; OCW) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for education, culture, science, research, gender equality and communications. The Ministry was cre ...

under the

, dealing with higher education, science and knowledge, teachers and culture, between 5 November 2012 and 26 October 2017. He previously served as a municipal councillor in The Hague from 2003 to 2006, party group leader in the municipal council from 2004 to 2006 and an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

in the

municipal executive In the Netherlands, the municipal executive (, ) is the executive board of a municipality. It plays a central role in municipal politics in the Netherlands, similar to the communal college in Belgium. It consists of the mayor and the members of ...

from 2006 to 2012. He was responsible for Education, Youth and Sports until 2010 and Finance from 2010 to 2012. In July 2015, Dekker submitted to the

States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to: Currently in use * Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000 * States Gener ...

a proposal to change two aspects of the

freedom of education Freedom of education is the right for parents to have their children educated in accordance with their religious and other views, allowing groups to be able to educate children without being impeded by the nation state. Freedom of education is a ...

law: # Not to demand that new schools represent an ideological direction, such as a religion. New schools could be based on an idea for good education, for instance IT-based education, green schools, or other innovative concept, as long as sufficient interest exists for such a system. # To introduce more severe quality controls. Freedom of education should not be a license for bad educational systems. On 26 October 2017, he was appointed Minister for Legal Protection, a ministership without portfolio at the

Ministry of Justice and Security The Ministry of Justice and Security ( nl, Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid; JenV) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for justice, imprisonment and public security. The Ministry was created in 1798 as the ''Department of Justice'', before it ...

, in charge of Privacy Policy, Youth Justice, Copyright Law and Prevention, under Minister

Ferdinand Grapperhaus Ferdinand Bernhard Joseph "Ferd" Grapperhaus (born 8 November 1959) is a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 26 October 2017 until 10 January 2022. He is a member of the Christian Democ ...

. On 10 January 2022, he was succeeded by

Franc Weerwind Franciscus Max "Franc" Weerwind (born 22 September 1964) is a Dutch politician of Democrats 66 (D66) who has been serving as minister for legal protection in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte since 10 January 2022. Early life and educ ...

References

External links

;Official *
Drs. S. (Sander) Dekker
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Dekker, Sander 1975 births Living people Aldermen of The Hague Dutch expatriates in England Dutch jurists Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Leiden University alumni Leiden University faculty Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands Municipal councillors of The Hague People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians State Secretaries for Education of the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch civil servants 21st-century Dutch educators 21st-century Dutch politicians