NSOL VENCY OF PUBLIC ENTITIES OTHER THAN THE STATE hold bodies and persons lia ble by analogy with the prov isions of Art. 2: 138/248 DCC with respect to improper management, and whether he can take criminal action or institute legal proceedings against higher or otherwise supervisory bodies (ultimately, the state, the Kingdom of the Netherlands). Let us take a closer look at the influence on the powers and tasks that have been assigned to public legalentities 4.1 Powers assigned to pu Traditionally, the concept of subject has been considered differently between private law and adm inistrative law. In private aw, it is the legal entity that counts; in dm inistrative law, it is the adm inistrative body, as the entity carry ing the authorit The distinction is ev ident in the central govermment and in decentra lized vemments: the legal entities are the State, the province, the municipality, and the water control authority; the administrative bodies are persons or boards that function within these and have been assigned powers, such as a minister, the Queens commissioner, the Provincial Council, the mayor, the municipal council, and the ha irman of a water control council. The distinction is smaller. however than is generally assumed. Also in typically public-law situations, powers are assigned to public-law legal entities. In mass-meda legislation, for example, powers are assigned to the Public Broadcasting Comm ission, which is a legal entity govemed by public law. And in the case of legal entities governed by private lw, the powers are directly assigned to the legal entity 21 What all the variants have in common is that a public-law com petence cannot be seen as an asset orproperty right that, in the event of a bankruptcy, will be exercised by the bankruptcy trustee. But the exercise of the public-law competence is, of course, influenced by the operation of the bankruptcy, if only because, for the xercise of powers, financial means are necessary which fall under the bankruptcy This raises the question to what extent the exercise of public-law powers is still pportune. If the adm inistrative process is halted because of the lack of sufficient funds, this can be most damaging and undesirable. Consequently, it might be a reason for withdrawing the public-law power and for subsequently assigning it to another adm inistrative body, so that the adm inistrative process can effectively continue. Just as the assignment of public-law powers should be based on the law, so Its withdra wal should be have a statutory basis. A case in point is the Organisatiewet Sociale verzekeringen [Socal Security Organization Act]1997. On the basis of Art. 38 of this act, the national institute for social security has been assigned the task to implement various social security laws, a task which entails public-law powers. On the basis of Art. 39, that power can be handed over to an implementation agency This implementation a gency, however, must be recognized by the minister(Art. 59), a recognition that, in accordance with Art. 61 of the Social Security Organization Act 1997, is withdrawn as soon as the implementation agency is declared to be in a state f bankruptcy A special situation exists with respect to the intemal organization of public bodies as decentra lized building blocks of the Dutch polity, the provinces and See J.A.F. Peters, Rechtspersonen als bestwmrsonmen poor openbaar ondenwys Legal entities as administrative foms in publi education], School en wet [ School and law 2000, no. IINSOLVENCY OF PUBLIC ENTITIES OTHER THAN THE STATE 9 hold bodies and persons liable by analogy with the provisions of Art. 2:138/248 DCC with respect to improper management; and whether he can take criminal action or institute legal proceedings against `higher' or otherwise supervisory bodies (ultimately, the state, the Kingdom of the Netherlands). Let us take a closer look at the influence on the powers and tasks that have been assigned to public legal entities. 4.1 Powers assigned to public entities and bankruptcy Traditionally, the concept of `subject' has been considered differently between private law and administrative law. In private law, it is the legal entity that counts; in administrative law, it is the administrative body, as the entity carrying the authority. The distinction is evident in the central government and in decentralized governments: the legal entities are the State, the province, the municipality, and the water control authority; the administrative bodies are persons or boards that function within these and have been assigned powers, such as a minister, the Queen's commissioner, the Provincial Council, the mayor, the municipal council, and the chairman of a water control council. The distinction is smaller, however, than is generally assumed. Also in typically public-law situations, powers are assigned to public-law legal entities. In mass-media legislation, for example, powers are assigned to the Public Broadcasting Commission, which is a legal entity governed by public law. And in the case of legal entities governed by private law, the powers are directly assigned to the legal entity.21 What all the variants have in common is that a public-law competence cannot be seen as an asset orproperty right that, in the event of a bankruptcy, will be exercised by the bankruptcy trustee. But the exercise of the public-law competence is, of course, influenced by the operation of the bankruptcy, if only because, for the exercise of powers, financial means are necessary which fall under the bankruptcy. This raises the question to what extent the exercise of public-law powers is still opportune. If the administrative process is halted because of the lack of sufficient funds, this can be most damaging and undesirable. Consequently, it might be a reason for withdrawing the public-law power and for subsequently assigning it to another administrative body, so that the administrative process can effectively continue. Just as the assignment of public-law powers should be based on the law, so its withdrawal should be have a statutory basis. A case in point is the Organisatiewet Sociale Verzekeringen [Social Security Organization Act] 1997. On the basis of Art. 38 of this act, the national institute for social security has been assigned the task to implement various social security laws, a task which entails public-law powers. On the basis of Art. 39, that power can be handed over to an implementation agency. This implementation agency, however, must be recognized by the minister (Art. 59), a recognition that, in accordance with Art. 61 of the Social Security Organization Act 1997, is withdrawn as soon as the implementation agency is declared to be in a state of bankruptcy. A special situation exists with respect to the internal organization of public bodies as decentralized building blocks of the Dutch polity, the provinces and 21. See J.A.F. Peters, Rechtspersonen als bestuursvormen voor openbaar onderwijs[Legal entities as administrative forms in public education], School en wet [School and law] 2000, no. 1