We Beatrix, by the grace of God, Queen of the Netherlands, Princess of Oranje-Nassau, etc. etc. etc.

 Greetings to all those who shall see or hear these presents ! Be it known: Having taken into consideration that it is desirable to institute an independent board for the investigation of calamities, accidents and incidents so as to ascertain the causes or probable causes of the incident or the category of incidents and of the extent of their consequences and to make recommendations accordingly; After hearing the advice of the Council of State of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and in consultation with the States General and having complied with the provisions of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, We have therefore approved and decreed, as We hereby approve and decree:

　

1. In this Kingdom Act and the provisions based on it the following words shall have the following meanings:

a. Our Minister: Our Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations;

b. Our Minister of Justice: Our Minister of Justice of the Netherlands, unless otherwise provided;

c. the Board: the Safety Investigation Board, referred to in Article 2, first paragraph;

d. the members of the Board: both the members of the Board referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, and the associate members of the Board referred to in Article 6, second paragraph;

e. the Office: the Office referred to in Article 11, second paragraph;

f. incident: incident causing a person's death or injury, or causing damage to an object or to the environment, as well as an incident giving rise to the risk of such a consequence;

g. ship: an object, not being an aircraft, by its construction evidently intended to float and floating or having floated;

h. sea-going vessel: ship, by its construction evidently exclusively o chiefly intended to float in the sea;

i. Dutch sea-going vessel: sea-going vessel which by virtue of the legal rules applying to the Netherlands is entitled to sail under the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;

j. Netherlands-Antillean sea-going vessel: sea-going vessel which by virtue of the legal rules applying to the Netherlands Antilles is entitled to sail under the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;

k. Aruban sea-going vessel: sea-going vessel which by virtue of the legal rules applying to Aruba is entitled to sail under the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands;

l. ro-ro ferry boat: roll-on-roll-off ferryboats as defined in Article 2, section a, of Directive no. 1999/35 EC of the Council of the European Union of 29 April 1999 concerning a system of obligatory investigations for the safe explo itation of regular ferry lines with ro-ro ferryboats and high-speed passenger vessels (PbEC L 138);

m. high-speed passenger vessel: high-speed passenger vessel as defined in Article 2 section b, of Directive no. 1999/35 EC of the Council of the European Union of 29 April 1999 concerning a system of obligatory investigations for the safe exploitation of regular ferry lines with ro-ro ferryboats and high-speed passenger vessels (PbEC L 138);

n. aircraft: aircraft that can be held in the atmosphere as a result of powers exercised on it by the air, other than the powers of the air against the surface of the earth;

o. Dutch aircraft: an aircraft registered in the Netherlands;

p. causes: acts, omissions, occurrences, circumstances or a combination thereof which have led to the incident;

q. recommendation: proposal of the Board on the basis of information resulting from investigation by the Board with a view to preventing future incidents or limiting the consequences thereof;

r. flight recorder: any kind of recording device installed in the aircraft in order to facilitate investigations into accidents and incidents;

2. An incident as referred to in the first paragraph, section f, shall not be understood to mean:

a. a disturbance of the public order as referred to in Article 172, third paragraph, of the Municipalities Act, a riotous action or another serious disorderliness as referred to in Article 175, first paragraph, of the Municipalities Act, or a situation of which it is seriously feared that any of such incidents may arise;

b. an action of the competent authorities for the purpose of law enforcement;

c. an action of the armed forces or a military unit:

1) in a situation of war or armed conflict;

2) during an operation for maintenance or advancement of international law and order;

3) by virtue of the Police Act 1993;

4) within the scope of rendering assistance in pursuance of the Instructions on deploying the armed forces in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba;

3. An aircraft in use with a natural person established in the Netherlands, a legal person with or without profit motive, or a government body with or without legal personality is considered equivalent to a Dutch aircraft;

　

1. There is a Safety Investigation Board.

2. The Board is established in The Hague.

3. The Board possesses legal personality.

 With the exclusive aim of preventing future incidents or limiting the consequences thereof, the Board has the task to investigate and establish the causes or probable causes of individual incidents or categories of incidents and of the extent of the consequences thereof and, if necessary, to make recommendations accordingly.

 The Board is authorised to conduct an investigation into:

a. incidents on, above or under the territory of the Netherlands, including the European waters under Dutch jurisdiction;

b. incidents on, above or under the territory of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, including the waters under Netherlands-Antillean or Aruban jurisdiction respectively, if the government of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba respectively should request the Board to conduct such an investigation;

c. incidents in which a Dutch sea-going vessel is involved on the open sea or in waters under other than Dutch jurisdiction;

d. incidents in which a ro-ro ferryboat or a high-speed passenger vessel on the open sea is involved, which last put in at a port in the Netherlands;

e. incidents in which a Dutch aircraft is involved above the open sea or abroad;

f. incidents in which a Netherlands-Antillean or an Aruban sea-going vessel is involved on the open sea or in waters under other than Netherlands-Antillean or Aruban jurisdiction respectively, if the government of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba respectively should request the Board to conduct such an investigation;

g. incidents in which a Netherlands-Antillean or an Aruban aircraft is involved above the open sea or abroad, if the government of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba respectively should request the Board to conduct such an investigation;

2. The authority to conduct an investigation shall also extend to :

a. the way in which the consequences of incidents abroad have been dealt with in the Netherlands of which the consequences extend to the territory of the Netherlands, including the European waters under Dutch jurisdiction;

b. the way in which the consequences of incidents abroad have been dealt with in the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba of which the consequences extend to the territory of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba, including the waters under Netherlands-Antillean or Aruban jurisdiction respectively, if the government of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba respectively should request the Board to conduct such an investigation;

c. dealing with the consequences of the incidents referred to in the first paragraph, sections a, c, d and e;

d. dealing with the consequences of the incidents referred to in the first paragraph, sections b, f and g, if the government of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba respectively should request the Board to conduct such an investigation.

3. The Board is furthermore authorised to conduct an investigation into incidents and to deal with the consequences of incidents, in so far as it concerns incidents relating to an object or a person used for or in the course of exercising a function respectively, on behalf of:

a. Our Minister of Defence;

b. a foreign army, if the incident took place on or above the territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, including the territorial waters and the continental shelf belonging to the territory, as well as in so far as it concerns an incident with an aircraft, if the incident took place within the flight information area of Curaçao, in so fa r as this flight information area does not comprise areas or waters falling under the jurisdiction of another state.

4. The Board is furthermore authorised to conduct an investigation into incidents and to deal with the consequences of incidents in so far as it concerns incidents relating to an object or a person used for or in the course of exercising a function respectively, for the benefit of an organisation of which the management has been assigned to Our Minister of Defence.

1. The accidents with respect to which the Board is obliged to conduct an investigation will be decided by a Kingdom Order in Council or an Order in Council.

2. By or pursuant to a Kingdom Order in Council or an Order in Council rules shall be laid down with respect to incidents, to be further specified, in which another state or another country is also involved, concerning the way in which the investigation is to be organised, the co-operation with this other state or other country in the execution of the investigation and the role of the Board in such cases, as well as the international obligations to be complied with in the event of such an investigation.

1. The Board has five members, including the chairman.

2. In addition, associate members also participate in the Board.

3. The Board will have qualified associate members participate in its consultations on individual incidents or categories of incidents.

4. Associate members shall not participate in the consultations of the Board for the application of Articles 7, 16, 17, 20, first paragraph, 23, first paragraph, 25, 26, 65 and 71.

1. The members of the Board referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, shall be appointed, suspended and dismissed by Royal Decree, after hearing the advice of the Board.

2. The members of the Board referred to in Article 6, second paragraph, shall be appointed, suspended and dismissed by Royal Decree on the recommendation of Our Minister, in agreement with Our Minister whom it also concerns in the Netherlands, after hearing the advice of the Board.

3. The selection of the members of the Board shall be made in such a way that all relevant expertise is present within the Board. The Board shall at any rate have expertise available in the field of defence and transport. Further rules on the matter may be laid down by a Kingdom Order in Council.

4. Membership of the Board is considered a confidential function as referred to in Article 1 , first paragraph, section a of the Security Clearances Act.

5. The members of the Board are appointed for a term of four years. The term of the member who is appointed to a premature vacancy shall be equal to the remaining term of the member in whose place this member is appointed. The members of the Bo ard can be reappointed once.

6. In agreement with Our Minister whom it also concerns in the Netherlands, Our Minister shall see to the publication of a vacancy in the Board. The Board may make a reasoned proposal to Our Minister before the vacancy is made public.

7. At their own request the members of the Board may submit their resignation, which will take effect not later than on the first day of the third calendar month after the day on which Our Minister received the letter of resignation.

8. Without prejudice to the seventh paragraph suspension and dismissal shall only be possible by reason of inaptness or incompetence for the function performed or because of other serious reasons connected with the person concerned.

1. By Royal Decree one of the members of the Board referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, shall be appointed chairman of the Board.

2. By Royal Decree one of the members of the Board referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, shall be appointed deputy chairman of the Board.

Rules shall be laid down by or pursuant to a Kingdom Order in Council concerning:

a. the manner in which the members of the Board are to be sworn in;

b. the remuneration, including the reimbursement of travel and accommodation expenses of the members of the Board.

1. The Board may appoint committees.

2. A committee consists of one or more members of the Board as referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, and of one or more members as referred to in Article 6, second paragraph.

3. The Board shall appoint one of the members of the Board as referred to in Article 6, first paragraph, chairman of the committee.

4. The Board may grant a committee the power to take decisions on its behalf.

1. The Board has a general secretary.

2. The Board is supported by an Office.

3. The Office is led by the general secretary.

4. The selection of employees of the Office shall be made in such a way that all relevant expertise is present within the Office. The functions of the employees of the Office, including that of the general secretary, are considered confidential functions, as referred to in Article 1, first paragraph, section a of the Security Clearances Act.

5. Among the employees of the Office are soldiers appointed by Our Minister of Defence in agreement with the chairman of the Board there, who, while retaining their legal status, are deployed for the investigation into incidents as referred to in Article 4, third paragraph. The Board may also deploy them for other investigative tasks.

Neither the general secretary nor any of the employees of the Office shall be members of the Board. The general secretary shall only be accountable to the Board.

1. The rules applicable to civil servants appointed at the Ministries shall apply to the legal status of the secretary and the employees of the Office referred to in Article 11 , second paragraph, provided that where in these rules authority is granted to another minister than Our Minister, this authority shall be exercised by the Board.

2. By an Order in Council the rules referred to in the first paragraph may be deviated from.