Kloosterkerk, The Hague

The Council of State (Dutch: Raad van State ) is a constitutionally established advisory body in the Netherlands to the government and States General that officially consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic or military experience. It was founded in 1531, making it one of the world's oldest still-functioning state organisations.The Council of State must be consulted by the cabinet on proposed legislation before a law is submitted to parliament. The Council of State Administrative Law division also serves as one of the four highest courts of appeal in administrative matters. The King is president of the Council of State but he seldom chairs meetings. The Vice-President of the Council of State chairs meetings in his absence and is the de facto major personality of the institution. Under Dutch constitutional law, the Vice-President of the Council is acting head of state when there is no monarch such as if the royal family were to become extinct.

Kneuterdijk Palace (Dutch: Paleis Kneuterdijk [paːˈlɛis knøːtərˈdɛik]) is a former royal palace of the Netherlands located in The Hague, nowadays the seat of the Council of State. Built in 1716 in the Louis XIV style by architect Daniel Marot, it was commissioned by Count Johan Hendrik of Wassenaer-Obdam, member of the House of Wassenaer. The palace served as a residence for King William II of the Netherlands and his wife Queen Anna Paulowna in the first half of the 19th century, when he was still the crown prince. William II added several buildings designed in the English Tudor style, of which only the so-called “Gothic Hall” has survived. The hall was designed after the great dining hall of Christ Church, Oxford, of which William II was an alumnus.Their grandson Crown Prince William used the palace from 1858 till his death in 1879. In the 1930s the place was occasionally used by Princess Juliana. After World War II Dutch war criminals were tried in the former ballroom, some of whom were sentenced to death. Then the Ministry of Finance used the building for many years. Since restoration work was completed in 2001 the palace has been in use by the Netherlands' Council of State (Raad van State).

The Embassy of the United Kingdom in The Hague is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Embassy is located on one of the most famous streets in the Netherlands, Lange Voorhout, in the Centrum. The current British Ambassador to the Netherlands is Joanna Roper.Since the formation in 1997 of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is located in The Hague, the British Ambassador to the Netherlands has also been the UK's Permanent Representative to the OPCW.Outside The Hague, there is also a British Consulate General in Amsterdam where the senior officer is known as the Consul-General. The Embassy and Consulate General also represent the British Overseas Territories in the Netherlands.

The Hague Congress, held from 2 to 7 September 1872, in the eponymous city, was a congress of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), more commonly known as the First International. It is one of the fundamental events in the history of the workers' movement, marking the split between the Marxists and the anti-authoritarians/anarchists, two political movements that separated during this congress. Following the founding of the International, numerous factions gathered within it, notably the Bakuninists or anti-authoritarians, who brought together anarchists, collectivists, and anti-authoritarian socialists. This group represented the majority of the organization, while the Marxists and Blanquists were allied and controlled the General Council of the IWA. While all these factions started as allies within the organization, personal and theoretical conflicts arose between them, crystallized in the growing opposition between Mikhail Bakunin and Karl Marx. As the Marxists and Blanquists were progressively outpaced by the spreading Bakuninist federations, which threatened their control over the organization, they attempted to strengthen the power of the General Council, which they controlled. This provoked a rupture with a large part of the IWA, especially the Spanish (the largest of all), Italian, Belgian, and Jurassian federations. Marx, supported by the German Marxists and his own forces in London and the United States, then organized the Hague Congress, choosing the location and management to favor his interests and strengthen his positions. Bakunin, unable to travel to the congress as he was being sought by the French and German police, left his 'lieutenant' James Guillaume to represent him. The Hague Congress resulted in the expulsion of Bakunin and Guillaume from the IWA and the adoption of statutes entrusting decision-making power to the General Council. A majority of the International's federations rejected these decisions and this congress, and decided to meet a week later in Saint-Imier for the Saint-Imier Congress, which founded the Anti-authoritarian International. This new body was perceived as the continuity of the First International and became a fundamental organization in the history of anarchism. For their part, the Marxists sidelined the Blanquists from the organization they still controlled. This action isolated them from the few remaining forces other than their own within their IWA and ultimately led to the organization's disappearance in 1876. The Anti-authoritarian International disappeared around the 1880s, giving way to other systems of organization, such as anarchist companionship. Meanwhile, the Marxists and Social Democrats founded the Second International in 1889.

The Hague ( HAYG; Dutch: Den Haag [dɛn ˈɦaːx] (listen) or 's‑Gravenhage [ˌsxraːvə(n)ˈɦaːɣə] (listen)) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the western coast facing the North Sea. It is the administrative and royal capital of the Netherlands and its seat of government, as well as the capital of the province of South Holland. It hosts the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Hague is the core municipality of the Greater The Hague urban area, which comprises the city itself and its suburban municipalities, containing over 800,000 people, making it the third-largest urban area in the Netherlands, again after the urban areas of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 2.6 million, is one of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe and the most populous in the country; the area holds the Rotterdam The Hague Airport. Situated on the west coast of the Netherlands, The Hague lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation, one of the largest conurbations in Europe. The Hague is the seat of the Cabinet, the States General, the Supreme Court and the Council of State of the Netherlands, but the city is not the constitutional capital, which is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander lives in the Huis ten Bosch and works at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, together with Queen Máxima. Most foreign embassies in the Netherlands are located in the city. The Hague is also home to the headquarters of many Dutch companies, with Shell plc having major offices in the city as well. The Hague is known as the home of international law and arbitration. The International Court of Justice, the main judicial arm of the United Nations, is located in the city, as are the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Europol, and approximately 200 other international governmental organizations.

Bouches-de-la-Meuse ([buʃ.də.la.møz], "Mouths of the Meuse"; Walloon: Bokes do Moûze, Dutch: Monden van de Maas) was a department of the First French Empire in the present-day Netherlands. It was named after the mouth of the river Meuse. It was formed in 1810, when the Kingdom of Holland was annexed by France. Its territory corresponded more or less with the present-day Dutch province of South Holland. Its capital was The Hague. The department was subdivided into the following arrondissements and cantons (situation in 1813): The Hague, cantons: Alphen aan den Rijn, Katwijk, The Hague (4 cantons) and Voorburg. Brielle, cantons: Brielle, Goedereede, Sommelsdijk. Dordrecht, cantons: Dordrecht (2 cantons), Oud-Beijerland, Ridderkerk and Strijen. Gorinchem, cantons: Culemborg, Gorinchem and Sliedrecht. Leiden, cantons: Leiden (3 cantons), Noordwijk and Woubrugge. Rotterdam, cantons: Delft (2 cantons), Gouda, Haastrecht, Hillegersberg, Naaldwijk, Rotterdam (4 cantons), Schiedam and Vlaardingen.Its population in 1812 was 393,600, and its area was 378,282 hectares.After Napoleon was defeated in 1814, the department became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Lange Voorhout (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɑŋə voːrˈɦʌut]) is a street in the old city centre of The Hague, Netherlands. It is L-shaped and runs from Kneuterdijk in the west to Toernooiveld in the east, reaching approximately 0.47 kilometres (0.29 mi) in length.

The Prince William V Gallery is an art gallery on the Buitenhof in The Hague that currently shares an entrance with the Gevangenpoort museum. It is a recreation of the original gallery Galerij Prins Willem V, once founded there by William V, Prince of Orange in 1774. The displayed paintings are part of the collection of the Mauritshuis. Amongst the paintings on display are works by Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter and Gerard van Honthorst.

Pulchri Studio (Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands.This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Lambertus Hardenberg. Since 1893 the club has its residence in the villa at Lange Voorhout in The Hague. Membership is made up of painters, sculptors, photographers and art lovers, with members selected by a committee. An artist's membership allows themt to exhibit their own works in the galleries of the Company. Guests have to be invited by members.

Restaurant Les Saison, part of Hotel Corona, is a defunct restaurant in The Hague, Netherlands. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in 1988 and retained that rating until 1992.In the time of the Michelin stars, head chef was Robert Kranenborg.Hotel Corona is located in three 17th century buildings, within sight of the Dutch parlementary buildings. It reopened after an extensive renovation in January 2012.Restaurant Les Saison closed down in 1992. Partly, because head chef Kranenborg moved on to La Rive in Amsterdam. But also because the owners, Heineken International, sold the hotel to Ad Ph. Siliakus. The new owner, later Chagall Hotels & Restaurants and Hampshire Hospitality & Leisure, wanted a brasserie instead of a fine dining restaurant.

The Hofvijver (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦɔfɛivər]; English: Court Pond) is a lake in the centre of The Hague, Netherlands. It is adjoined in the east by the Korte Vijverberg (road), in the south by the Binnenhof and the Mauritshuis, in the west by the Buitenhof and in the north by the Lange Vijverberg (road). In the middle there is a small island with plants and trees which has no name, it is usually referred to as "the island in the Vijverberg".

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch: Hoge Raad der Nederlanden [ˈɦoːɣə raːdər ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)] or simply Hoge Raad), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and is located in The Hague.The Supreme Court rules civil and criminal matters. In certain administrative cases it has final jurisdiction as well, while in other cases this jurisdiction rests with the adjudicative division of the Council of State (Raad van State), the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep), the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep van het bedrijfsleven) as well as judicial institutions in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Court is a court of cassation, which means that it has the competence to quash or affirm rulings of lower courts, but no competence to re-examine or question the facts. It only considers whether the lower courts applied the law correctly and the rulings have sufficient reasoning. In so doing it establishes case law. As the government of the Netherlands is characterised by parliamentary sovereignty, the Supreme Court cannot overturn primary legislation made by the States-General. This is laid out in Article 120 of the Constitution, which states that courts may not rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by the States General and treaties. With the exception of the Constitutional Court of Sint Maarten (which rules on constitutionality with regards to the Sint Maarten constitution only) courts thus have little competence for judicial review with respect to the Constitution. However, it is possible for courts (including the Supreme Court) to overturn secondary legislation made by the executive government. The Supreme Court currently consists of 36 judges: a president, six vice presidents, twenty-five justices (raadsheren, literally "Lords of the Council") and four justices extraordinary (buitengewone dienst). All judges are appointed for life, until they retire at their own request or mandatorily on their 70th birthday.