Franc Weerwind

Franciscus Max "Franc" Weerwind (born 22 September 1964) is a Dutch politician of Democrats 66 (D66) who served as minister for legal protection in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Rutte from January 2022 until July 2024.

Early life and education

Weerwind was born in Amsterdam and is of Surinamese descent. He grew up in Nieuw-Vennep and studied Public administration at Leiden University between 1986 and 1992 (he did not complete his study). During his attending years at the university, and at the same time as the then crown prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, he became a member of the student fraternity LSV Minerva in 1987.

Political career

In 2000, Weerwind became deputy city manager of Leiderdorp and a year later he became city manager of Wormerland. On 1 december 2004, he was appointed mayor of the municipality of Niedorp, and from September 2009 until September 2015 he was mayor of Velsen. From September 2015 until January 2022 he was mayor of Almere.

When Weerwind was Minister for Legal Protection, the Dutch government resumed adoptions of children from the Philippines, Hungary, Lesotho, Taiwan, Thailand and South Africa in 2022, after a nearly two-year-freeze on new international adoptions. Inspired by Italian laws against its Mafia, he introduced a bill in 2023 to limit communication for prisoners in the strictest facilities. Interactions with attorneys would be monitored under the legislation to allow for intervention in case of the exchange of external messages or the exertion of pressure on an attorney. Following further amendments by the House of Representatives, the Council of State advised that the bill would violate the constitution, and Weerwind subsequently toned down his proposal.

Weerwind's term as minister ended on 2 July 2024, when the Schoof cabinet was sworn in.