| The mayor is the first person who gives advice on nominations for honours. He is close to the citizens of his town. Hence, in many cases, the mayor is able to assess whether the candidate has in fact special, personal merit for society. Furthermore, the mayor can assess how a Royal honour will be received in his community. The mayor is also expected to seek out persons who deserve an honour. So the mayor has an important task in terms of nominations for honours. The submitted nominations are studied carefully. The first question that the mayor will ask is whether the candidate deserves an honour. To answer this question, the mayor verifies the facts given in the nomination. If he cannot check or assess certain facts, then this will be indicated in his advice.
In addition, the mayor sometimes has additional information about the candidate. In his advice, the mayor will specify the other activities of the candidate of which he is aware. The presentation of incorrect facts must be prevented.
If the mayor feels that a Royal honour is justified, then the following questions arise: in which Order can the person be honoured? And in which grade? Finally, the mayor gives his opinion on a suitable occasion to confer the honour.
The mayor requests the candiate's judicial details in order to consider the nomination meticulously and to determine whether the candidate is of irreproachable conduct. A check is also made whether the police have made any charges that have not yet been heard in court. The mayor may also contact the Chamber of Commerce, for example, or a professional organisation or other parties.
Once the mayor has drawn up the advice, the entire file including appendices is sent to the Queen's Commissioner. |
