Former senator and Vice Chairman Henk Heijne Makkreel passed away on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at the age of 93. Heijne Makkreel, born in 1931, had an impressive career in both politics and the judiciary. As a VVD senator, he dedicated himself to the quality of legislation from 1977 to 1999. Education, justice, traffic and water management, and Antillean affairs were of particular interest to him.
Heijne Makkreel began his career as an engineer at Fokker and then worked as a lecturer in aircraft engineering at the Higher Technical School in Haarlem. In 1970, he was a member of the Provincial States of North Holland for seven years on behalf of the VVD. In 1977, Heijne Makkreel was elected to the Senate, where he remained until June 8, 1999.
In the Senate, Heijne Makkreel was, among other things, chairman of the committee that oversaw the revision of the Civil Code, a milestone in the modernization of Dutch private law. His involvement in the Night of Wiegel in 1999 underscored his commitment to constitutional principles: he was one of the VVD senators who voted against the first reading of the constitutional amendment and in favor of the corrective referendum in the second reading, the latter to prevent a cabinet crisis.
In addition to his political work, Heijne Makkreel was a judge at the Haarlem court for many years, until 2001. His legal insight and his pursuit of care and justice made him a valued member of the judiciary. Henk Heijne Makkreel is remembered as an expert parliamentarian and jurist.