THE HAGUE, 21/04/01 - The children of Princess Irene and Carel Hugo van Bourbon of Parma may have been incorporated into the Dutch nobility, but this does not entitle other Dutch citizens of foreign noble descent to the same right. With this verdict, the Council of State rejected the requests of two originally German and Bohemian nobles on Friday.
The two men based their claim on the case of Irene's children and the principle of equality. But the Netherlands' highest administrative court of law pronounced that the men only stood a chance of incorporation if they possessed a lawful acknowledgement of their nobility from their country of origin.
Some time ago, members of ancient foreign nobility had attempted to be included into Dutch nobility. Particularly R. Baron Von Quast-Juchter of The Hague, now one of the current appealers at the Council of State, fought a lengthy battle to acquire Dutch recognition of his noble family title, which dates back to 1789. The Home Ministry maintained however that in 1919, the Weimar Republic - succeeding the old German Reich - had abolished all titles of nobility.
In Friday's ruling, the Council of State follows this line of reasoning, after a lower court in The Hague had already rejected the men's claims to nobility. According to both courts of law, such requests should originate from states similar to the Netherlands and within five years after the passing of the Nobility Act. The case in question had not complied with either of these and the Council of State thus put an end to the matter by a final ruling.
Source: Nis News Bulletin
