Secretary-General of the Court of Audit appointed Chair of the Dutch Whistleblowers Authority
Secretary-General Cornelis van der Werf is to leave the Netherlands Court of Audit in mid-November this year. This follows his appointment by the Council of Ministers on 12 September 2025 to chair the Dutch Whistleblowers Authority, after nomination by the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. He has been appointed to succeed Wilbert Tomesen, who is retiring after seven years as chair.
Cornelis van der Werf (Dokkum, 1963) is currently the Court of Audit’s most senior civil servant and consequently acts as the link between the Court of Audit’s Board – comprising three members responsible for managing this High Council of State, supported by two extraordinary Board members – and the rest of the organisation. He joined the Court of Audit in 2013, initially as an audit director. In 2018 he was appointed by the Crown to have overall responsibility for the approximately 300 Court of Audit officers.
Last spring, he was appointed deputy director at the Randstad Audit Office. He will combine his Audit Office responsibilities for the provinces of North- and South-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland with his role as chair of the Whistleblowers Authority.
As he explains, ‘After twelve enjoyable years at the Court of Audit, it’s time for a new challenge. Next year, the Whistleblowers Authority will have been in existence for ten years. There are some major changes ahead, given that the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is currently investigating whether the Authority’s responsibilities can be extended to include various supervision and enforcement tasks. People reporting employer misconduct and integrity issues continue to face disadvantage. As the newly appointed chair of the Whistleblowers Authority I feel honoured to be responsible, along with my two fellow directors and other staff, for dealing with these matters.’
Pieter Duisenberg, the Court of Audit’s President, expressed his appreciation of the leading role played by Van der Werf in achieving substantial organisational change at the Court of Audit over the past few years and his extensive involvement in the major renovation of the Lange Voorhout office premises in The Hague. In congratulating Van der Werf on his appointment, he said ‘The Whistleblowers Authority is an important institution. Your new role is one for which you are very suited and one that will maintain a close link with the Court of Audit’s work and the focus on integrity at the central government.’