Alex Brenninkmeijer
Ombudsman of the Netherlands
Alex Brenninkmeijer has been the Dutch national ombudsman since 1 October 2005. He studied Dutch Law at the University of Groningen where he got his degree in 1976. In 1987, he obtained his doctorate from Tilburg University for research on the importance of independent jurisdiction in democratic constitutional states. Until his appointment as the national ombudsman, Alex Brenninkmeijer was a judge on social security matters, civil service law and tax law at various courts. Prior to that, he taught at the University of Leiden as a professor of constitutional and administrative law. In 2003 he started as a professor at the ‘Albeda-leerstoel’ of employment relationship at the government and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Alex Brenninkmeijer is a pioneer on the domain of conflict arbitration and mediation. He is specialised in relations between citizens and the government, conflict analysis and methods of conflict solutions.