Cees van de Sanden
Member of the Senate
In office
27 June 2023 – 11 October 2023
Preceded byPaulien Geerdink
Personal details
Born
Cees A.H. van de Sanden

(1962-12-11) 11 December 1962
Political partyPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy
Alma materTilburg University (LL.M.)
Occupation
  • Attorney
  • politician

Cees A.H. van de Sanden (Dutch pronunciation: [keːs vɑn də ˈsɑndə(n)]; born 11 December 1962) is a Dutch attorney and politician for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).

Raised in Tilburg, North Brabant, Van de Sanden studied Dutch law at the city's university at age 39 after a non-legal corporate career. He specialized in administrative law and worked for several large law firms before setting up a solo practice. He later established partnerships with other attorneys. Van de Sanden is best known for his representation of the municipality of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk starting in 2021 after a conspiracy theory alleging Satanic ritual abuse caused disturbances. Its promotors were ordered to remove social media posts in an injunction suit and to pay damages, but another case to compel social media platform Twitter to remove more posts was lost by the municipality. One conspiracy theorist was prosecuted for death threats against Van de Sanden.

He ran for the Senate in May 2023 as the VVD's twelfth candidate but was not elected. He was appointed to the body in June 2023 to replace Paulien Geerdink for sixteen weeks during her sick leave.

Early life

Van de Sanden was born on 11 December 1962 and grew up in Tilburg, North Brabant in the district north of its center.[1][2][3] In his maiden speech as senator, he told that his father worked in a textile factory, and he described him as socialist and pro-union. Van de Sanden said he had attended the Cobbenhagen College at VWO level.[3]

Career

Following his education, he started a corporate career, and he later had a job as an administrative law advisor for the provincial government of South Holland.[4][5][6] He studied Dutch law at Tilburg University between 2001 and 2006, and he was admitted to the bar in January 2007.[1][7] Van de Sanden subsequently worked for the law firms NautaDutilh, Loyens & Loeff, and AKD.[8][9][10] He established his own solo practice in 2012 and was joined by criminal defense attorney Heleen Peters in November 2016 to form Van de Sanden & Peters Advocaten, located in Utrecht.[8][11][12] Van de Sanden is specialized in administrative law and has worked on cases related to spatial planning, environment, privacy, and law and order, and he has annotated cases for the legal journal Bouwrecht (Construction law).[13][14][15] In 2009, after the Spatial Planning Act had been enacted, Van de Sanden and a colleague warned it could put thousands of construction projects on hold. They argued exemptions to zoning plans granted by municipalities would not be valid under the new legislation in case a building permit had not yet been obtained, and they recommended the minister to add a grandfather clause.[9][16] In a 2015 opinion piece in the NRC Handelsblad, Van de Sanden and Peters criticized an amendment to the Aliens Employment Act that led to the immediate publication of companies fined in violation. They complained companies that were later found to be innocent were not compensated for reputational damage.[17]

Front facade of an old cemetery building surrounded by trees with a monument in front
Vredehof cemetery in Bodegraven, which was visited by conspiracy theorists in early 2021

Van de Sanden represented the municipality of Bodegraven-Reeuwijk in several cases that drew national media attention starting in 2021. Allegations of Satanic ritual abuse of children in Bodegraven in the 1980s were spread by three individuals – one claiming to be a survivor – through an online broadcast. As a result, inhabitants received threats and believers flocked to the graves of supposed victims in early 2021 to lay flowers.[13][18] Mayor Christiaan van der Kamp sought legal advice after relatives had been angered, and Van de Sanden advised to prohibit non-relatives from visiting the affected cemetery through an emergency order.[13][19] After continued unrest, the municipality started an injunction suit against the three men to stop them from promoting the conspiracy theory, separate from criminal proceedings by the Public Prosecution Service.[19][20] The District Court of The Hague agreed with the municipality and ordered the defendants in July to take down their posts from social media. Van de Sanden called it a groundbreaking judgement that would allow municipalities to tackle online disturbances through civil action. However, he also called on the Dutch Data Protection Authority to take more action in future.[18][21] Wouter Raatgever – one of the conspiracy theorists – was sentenced to six months in prison for threats against Van de Sanden and incitement against a prominent physician-scientist. Raatgever had accused Van de Sanden of protecting a Satanist pedophile network and said that he should receive the death penalty from a military tribunal.[22]

Through a civil case, Bodegraven-Reeuwijk tried to recover security, clean-up, and legal costs incurred as a result of the conspiracy theory. The three conspiracy theorists were ordered to pay €215,000 in May 2022, but the decision was reversed for one of the defendants on appeal the next year.[23][24] Van de Sanden also continued efforts to have the social media posts removed, as the three men failed to comply with the judgement. Platform Twitter suspended one account after receiving a draft subpoena but did not abide by the municipality's request to remove all tweets promoting the conspiracy theory.[25] In turn, the municipality filed an injunction suit against Twitter. The District Court of The Hague ruled in October 2022 that the company had done enough and that it would be too complex to have it filter all illegal content.[26][27] Reflecting on his work for the municipality, Van de Sanden wrote in an opinion piece that mayors have more possibilities than often believed to act on online calls to disrupt public order by drawing on civil rather than administrative law. However, Van de Sanden and Peters also expressed that an expanded set of tools would be required for mayors, saying that parts of the relevant legislation stemmed from the 19th century and did therefore not consider the digital world.[6][28][29]

Van de Sanden's partnership with Heleen Peters ended in September 2022, when they dissolved their firm and Van de Sanden founded SandenHartman with financial attorney Jesler Hartman Kok. The new law firm has its office in Eindhoven.[1][30][31][32]

Politics

Van de Sanden became active for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) in his home province of North Brabant, and he helped write its provincial election program. He ran for the Senate in May 2023 as the party's twelfth candidate. The ballot listed 's-Hertogenbosch as his place of residence, and he said he wanted to contribute to a liberal, safe, and enterprising Netherlands.[2][14] Van de Sanden was not elected to the Senate, as the VVD won ten seats.[33] On 16 June 2023, Senator Paulien Geerdink (VVD) suffered a spinal fracture resulting from a fall and went on sick leave.[34] Van de Sanden was sworn in as her temporary replacement on 27 June due to his place on the party list in the last election. The seat had been declined by the VVD's eleventh candidate, Marjolein van der Linden.[33][35]

Senate committee assignments

  • Committee on Education, Culture and Science
  • Committee on Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
  • Committee on Finances
  • Committee on Social Affairs and Employment[36]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Cees van de Sanden
Year Body Party Pos. Votes Result Ref.
Party seats Individual
2023 Senate People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 12 0[lower-alpha 1] 10 Lost[lower-alpha 2] [33]

Notes

  1. ↑ To account for population differences between provinces, a weighted vote total of 0 is used.
  2. ↑ Van de Sanden was appointed to the body later during the term due to a vacancy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mr. C.A.H van de Sanden (VVD)". Senate (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Plek 12 VVD-lijst voor Bosschenaar" [12th spot VVD list for 's-Hertogenbosch resident]. Brabants Dagblad (in Dutch). 3 February 2023. p. 2.
  3. 1 2 "Verslag van de plenaire vergadering van dinsdag 12 september 2023" [Minutes of the plenary session on Tuesday 12 September 2023]. Senate (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Cees van de Sanden". SandenHartman (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Van de Sanden, Cees (March 2008). "Wonderpil of placebo? Het zonebeheerplan in de nieuwe Wet geluidhinder" [Miracle pill or placebo? The zone management plan in the new Noise Pollution Act]. Tijdschrift voor Omgevingsrecht (in Dutch). 2012 (2): 45–49. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  6. 1 2 Boonstra, Wouter (16 April 2023). "'Zet het recht zo effectief mogelijk in'" ['Use the law as effectively as possible']. Binnenlands Bestuur (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  7. ↑ "de heer mr. C.A.H. van de Sanden". Zoek een advocaat (in Dutch). Netherlands Bar. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Personalia" [Personal developments]. Het Financieele Dagblad (in Dutch). 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  9. 1 2 Silvester, Mario (30 June 2009). "Duizenden projecten op de tocht" [Thousands of projects in the balance]. Cobouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  10. ↑ Jongerius, Stephan (23 February 2013). "Zondagwinkels wagen de gok" [Stores are risking it on Sunday]. Brabants Dagblad (in Dutch).
  11. ↑ "Over ons" [About us]. Van de Sanden & Peters Advocaten (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Mensen" [People]. Van de Sanden & Peters Advocaten (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  13. 1 2 3 Kuiper, Rik (16 July 2021). "Pizzagate in de polder: hoe Bodegraven de strijd aanging met complotdenkers" [Pizzagate in the polder: How Bodegraven entered the fight with conspiracy theorists]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Cees van de Sanden". People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  15. ↑ "C.A.H. van de Sanden". Recht.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  16. ↑ Silvester, Mario (1 July 2009). "Gemeenten ten onrechte bezorgd over Wro" [Municipalities unnecessarily worried about Spatial Planning Act]. Cobouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  17. ↑ Van de Sanden, Cees; Peters, Heleen (3 August 2015). "Naming & shaming past de bestuursorganen niet" [Naming & shaming not appropriate for governing bodies]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  18. 1 2 Kuiper, Rik (17 June 2021). "'Satanische pedoterreur' door 'corrupte elite': kan rechter complotdenkers stoppen?" ['Satanic ritual abuse' by 'corrupt elite': Can the judge stop conspiracy theorists?]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  19. 1 2 Kuiper, Rik (18 May 2022). "Complotdenkers veroordeeld tot 2 ton schadevergoeding voor verspreiden verhalen over pedonetwerk" [Conspiracy theorists sentenced to pay €200,000 in compensation for spreading stories about pedophile network]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  20. ↑ Bouma, Rudy; Van der Meer, Sophie; Berbers, Tim (8 July 2021). "Gemeenten zoeken middelen tegen online verspreiding complottheorieën" [Municipalities are looking for ways to stop the online spreading of conspiracy theories]. NOS (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  21. ↑ Tielemans, Stijn; Rosman, Cyril (8 July 2021). "Burgemeester Bodegraven: Als het nodig is, laten we complotverspreiders gijzelen" [Bodegraven mayor: If it is necessary, we will have the conspiracy theory spreaders held]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  22. ↑ "Complotdenker Wouter Raatgever krijgt zes maanden celstraf voor bedreiging advocaat en opruiing tegen Jaap van Dissel" [Conspiracy theorist Wouter Raatgever receives six-month prison sentence for threats against lawyer and incitement against Jaap van Dissel]. Leidsch Dagblad (in Dutch). 22 June 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  23. ↑ "Complotdenkers moeten 2 ton betalen na verhalen pedonetwerk" [Conspiracy theorists ordered to pay €200,000 due to stories about pedophile network]. Trouw (in Dutch). 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  24. ↑ Van Opstal, Harrie (23 May 2023). "Schadeclaim van twee ton tegen 'pedonetwerk'-complotdenker Knevel afgewezen, gemeente bestudeert uitspraak" [€200,000 in damages from pedophile network conspiracy theorist Knevel denied, municipality is looking into decision]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  25. ↑ Kuiper, Rik; Verhagen, Laurens (16 September 2022). "Bodegraven vs. Twitter: dorp is klaar met complottheorie" [Bodegraven v. Twitter: Village is fed up with conspiracy theory]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  26. ↑ "Dutch town falsely linked to satanic paedophiles loses Twitter court case". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  27. ↑ Bouma, Rudy (4 October 2022). "Bodegraven verliest kort geding tegen Twitter om tweets pedofiele misdrijven" [Bodegraven loses injunction suit against Twitter about tweets related to pedophiliac crimes]. NOS (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  28. ↑ Boonstra, Wouter (16 April 2021). "Cyberburgemeesters slaan alarm" [Cyber mayors sound the alarm]. Binnenlands Bestuur (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  29. ↑ Van de Sanden, Cees (10 February 2023). "Burgemeesters kunnen best iets doen" [Mayor are able to do something]. NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  30. ↑ "Over ons" [About us]. Van de Sanden & Peters Advocaten (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  31. ↑ "Het kantoor" [The office]. SandenHartman (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  32. ↑ "Contactgegevens" [Contact details]. SandenHartman (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  33. 1 2 3 "Proces-verbaal uitslag Eerste Kamerverkiezing 2023" [Records of the results of the 2023 Senate election] (PDF). Dutch Electoral Council (in Dutch). 1 June 2023. pp. 14–18. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  34. ↑ "VVD-senator breekt nekwervels in Antwerpen: 'Heel erg schrikken'" [VVD senator suffers spinal fracture in Antwerp: 'Very scary']. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 29 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  35. ↑ "Van de Sanden (VVD) geïnstalleerd als tijdelijk lid Eerste Kamer" [Van de Sanden (VVD) installed as temporary senator]. Senate (Press release) (in Dutch). 27 June 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  36. ↑ "Lidmaatschappen C.A.H van de Sanden" [Memberships C.A.H. van de Sanden]. Senate (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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