| In 1994, the time was ripe:
after 180 years and almost 30 years of discussion, the Dutch honours
system was drastically revised with respect to the civil Orders. This
revision was provided for by law. Rules of Procedure were established
for both Orders for the further implementation of the law. Nothing
changed for the Military William Order.
The revision returned an entirely individual character
to the two civil Orders. In both cases, the personal merits for society
of the person being honoured are honoured more greatly than before,
without rank, class or automatic conferral playing a role.
An exception is made for members of parliament. The
assessment of their work already takes place through elections for the
representative bodies. Article 14 of the Rules of Procedure describes
the conferral of honours on members of parliament. This prevents the
work of members of controlling bodies with direct electoral mandate
being subject of assessment by the controlling bodies themselves.
The first honours in the revised system were conferred
during the General Occasion of 1996. Since then, the number of honours
has increased steadily, and people are being honoured from every wider
layers of society.
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