Secretary/general director Cornelis van der Werf will leave the Netherlands Court of Audit in mid-November. He has been appointed chair of the House for Whistleblowers by the Council of Ministers on September 12, 2025, at the recommendation of the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. He succeeds Wilbert Tomesen, who is retiring after 7 years.
Van der Werf (Dokkum, 1963) is currently the highest official at the Netherlands Court of Audit. In this role, he connects the board of the Court of Audit - 3 members govern this High College of State and are assisted by 2 extraordinary members - with the rest of the organization. He joined the Netherlands Court of Audit in 2013, initially as director of research. In 2018, he was appointed as the head of the civil service organization of approximately 300 employees through a royal appointment.
Last spring, Cornelis van der Werf was appointed deputy director at the Randstad Court of Audit. He will combine this role for the provincial audit office of North and South Holland, Utrecht, and Flevoland with the chairmanship of the House for Whistleblowers.
Cornelis van der Werf: “After 12 years of working for the wonderful institution of the Netherlands Court of Audit, I am ready for a new step. The House for Whistleblowers will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year. It is on the verge of significant changes as the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is investigating whether the House can be expanded with some supervisory and enforcement tasks. Whistleblowers still experience retaliation after reporting an integrity issue. I see it as an honorable responsibility as the new chair of the House for Whistleblowers to tackle this together with my 2 fellow directors and the staff.”
President Pieter Duisenberg of the Netherlands Court of Audit points to the leading role that Van der Werf has had in recent years in a significant organizational change within the Court of Audit and the extensive work for a major renovation of the office building on Lange Voorhout in The Hague. He congratulates Cornelis van der Werf on his executive role at the House for Whistleblowers: “An important institution and a role that suits you very well, maintaining a wonderful connection with the work of the Court of Audit and the focus on integrity in the central government.”
