Jonathan Soeharno | |
|---|---|
| Member of theSenate | |
| In office 28 September 2021 – 1 February 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Ben Knapen |
| Succeeded by | Ben Knapen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Emanuël Soeharno[1] (1977-07-27)27 July 1977 (age 47) The Hague, Netherlands |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Appeal |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation |
|
Jonathan Emanuël Soeharno (born 27 July 1977) is a Dutch lawyer, professor, and politician. He has been working for law firmDe Brauw Blackstone Westbroek since 2008 and as a professor at theUniversity of Amsterdam since 2012. He served as a member of theSenate on behalf of theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) for four months between 2021 and 2022 as the replacement ofBen Knapen.
Soeharno was born in 1977 inThe Hague and is of Indonesian descent.[2][3] He completed his secondary education ongymnasium level and did not start his higher education for another two years.[4] During this period, he traveled through the United States, where he didvolunteer work and served as abassist in a band.[5] Between 1997 and 2003, Soeharno studied theology atUtrecht University followed by five years oflegal theory.[2] He simultaneously studied philosophy atRadboud University Nijmegen and theUniversity of Münster in the years 2000–05.[2][6] He obtained his doctorate in legal theory from Utrecht University in 2009 after finishing hisdissertation titledThe Integrity of the Judge: A Philosophical Inquiry.[2][6] Soeharno was also avisiting scholar at theUniversity of Cambridge'sPembroke College in 2006.[6]
He started working as a lawyer forDe Brauw Blackstone Westbroek inAmsterdam in 2008. He initially worked for its finance department, but his focus later shifted to integrity,ESG, human rights, and disciplinary and governance matters.[2][7] Soeharno also started teaching ethics, judgement, and disciplinary law at the Training and Study Centre for the Judiciary (SSR) the following year, he became a judicial integrityresearch fellow at Utrecht University's Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice, and he served as an editor of theNetherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy.[2][6][8] In 2012, he became a professor at theUniversity of Amsterdam. His specialty isadministration of justice andlegal philosophy, and he devoted his inaugural speech to the renewed interest inoaths.[9] Soeharno remained active as a lawyer and as a teacher for the SSR, and he would later also take a job as deputy judge at the commerce chamber of the Court of Appeal of's-Hertogenbosch.[2][10] At the university, he started serving on the scientific integrity committee in 2013, and he was program director of its Honours College of Law from 2015 to 2021.[2] During a conference, he pled for the involvement of theologians in the drafting of new legislation, as it could lead to more just laws.[11]
Soeharno participated in the2019 Senate election as the tenth candidate of the CDA.[12] He was not elected, as his party won nine seats.[13] Following the stepping down of SenatorBen Knapen in 2021 to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Soeharno was appointed to the Senate, and he was sworn in on 28 September.[10] He was on the Committee for Economic Affairs and Climate Policy / Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Committee for Social Affairs and Employment.[14] Soeharno remained active in his other positions with the exception of deputy judge.[15] He stepped down as senator after 1 February 2022 to allow for the return of Knapen, whose stint as minister had ended due to the swearing in of thefourth Rutte cabinet.[16] When Minister for Legal ProtectionFranc Weerwind was proposing reforms of oversight of the legal profession to parliament, Soeharno signed a letter with over twenty others criticizing plans to have a new national regulator operate on behalf of the Netherlands Bar. They argued the body should be independent.[17]
Soeharno ran forre-election to the Senate in 2023. He was placed tenth on theparty list, but the CDA received only six seats.[18]
Soeharno holds and has held several positions next to his job. He has been chair of the advisory board of theProtestant Theological University (since 2015), the supervisory board of theRonald McDonald Kinderfonds (since 2014), and the supervisory board of the Centre for Organisational Integrity (since 2019).[2] He has also been a member of the Loorbach Committee (2016–18), which advised the NetherlandsBar on changes to itscode of conduct;[19] the Disciplinary Court of Appeal for Lawyers (since 2020); Radboud University's supervisory board (2021);[20][21] the Dutch Securities Institute's disciplinary committee (2017–21); thePrins Bernhard Cultuurfonds's advisory committee on grants (since 2021);[2] and a committee advising the government on Article 57 ofthe Constitution (since 2023).[22]
Soeharno is a resident ofAmsterdam as of 2018.[12]
Senate 11 June 2019 – 13 June 2023 | ||
| People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD – 12) |  | |
| Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA – 9) | ||
| GroenLinks (GL – 8) | ||
| Democrats 66 (D66 – 7) | ||
| Labour Party (PvdA – 6) | ||
| Party for Freedom (PVV – 5) | ||
| Socialist Party (SP – 4) | ||
| Christian Union (CU – 3) | ||
| Party for the Animals (PvdD – 3) | ||
| 50PLUS (50+ – 2) | ||
| Reformed Political Party (SGP – 2) | ||
| Forum for Democracy (FVD – 3) | ||
| Independent Senate Group (OSF – 1) | ||
| Nanninga Group (Indep. – 7) | ||
| Otten Group (Indep. – 2) | ||
| Frentrop Group (Indep. – 2) | ||
Bold indicates theparliamentary leader (first mentioned) and thePresident; (Brackets) indicate a temporarily absent member; Italics indicate a temporary member; ‹Guillemets› indicate a member who has left the Senate See also:Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, 2017–2021 ·2021–2023 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
