Supervision ex durante and ex post: The CTIVD
The Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services (CTIVD) reviews the lawfulness of the tasks performed by the secret services both during and after the event. They may initiate their own investigations, write reports on them and make recommendations to the Minister. They have no binding powers, and so cannot interveneThis is an example that shows how this undermines the effectivity of the supervision if the secret services do not comply with the law. Nor is the Minister obliged to follow up the recommendations.
The line of European case law in recent years shows that the more untargeted the capabilities of the secret services, the higher the requirements in terms of supervision. In order to continue to meet these requirements, the Dutch supervisor should also be equipped with binding powers. This would give the supervisory authority the possibility to intervene in the ongoing work of the secret services if they do not comply with the rules.