Frits Korthals Altes

Who is Frits Korthals Altes?

Frederik "Frits" Korthals Altes is a Dutch politician, who served as justice minister during the first and second cabinets of prime minister Ruud Lubbers. He is an honorary member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Korthals Altes studied law at Leiden University, obtaining a degree in 1957 and then becoming practitioner for several years. In 1975, he became a chairman of the VVD, and he was elected to the Dutch Senate in 1981. He became a justice minister in the first and second cabinets of prime minister Ruud Lubbers, and was temporarily Minister of the Interior after minister Koos Rietkerk died suddenly in office.

After the second Lubbers cabinet fell because of a parliamentary motion of no confidence by the VVD faction, new elections were called, and Korthals Altes was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives. In 1991, he was elected back again to the Dutch Senate, where he became a Chairman of the Senate in 1997. From 1990 to 1997, he was also practising law again, with the Dutch firm Nauta Dutilh.

With his resignation from the senate in 2001, he was nominated as Minister of State. Earlier in 1997, the VVD gave him an honorary membership. From 1997 until 2001, he was President of the Senate. The Dutch Queen nominated Korthals Altes, alongside Rein Jan Hoekstra, as informateur, after a first round of talks between the CDA and Labour Party to form a new cabinet failed. The second Balkenende cabinet between the VVD, CDA and D66, was installed in May 2003.