Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands the Kingdom of the Netherlands' did not come into being until 1818. The city of Amsterdam was, and still is, the centre of Dutch Lutheranism. Most Lutherans in the Netherlands are descendants of German or Scandinavian merchants, and the Lutheran church has always been quite small. Because of the urban and internationally oriented membership of the Lutheran Church, liberal influences have always been relatively strong. The church was always counted among the most liberal denominations in the Netherlands. They were among the first churches to ordain women. On May 1, 2004, the Lutheran Church's membership was down to a mere
Constitution of the Netherlands rights. The text is sober, devoid of legal or political doctrine and includes a bill of rights. It prohibits the judiciary to test laws and treaties against the constitution, as this is considered a prerogative of the legislature. There is no constitutional court in the Netherlands, except for the Constitutional Court of Sint Maarten which only governs the Sint Maarten legislator. The Kingdom of the Netherlands also includes Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten: there is an overarching instrument of the entire kingdom that has constitution characterisics: the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The first constitution of the Netherlands