NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Theodoor Verheij, Barbara van der Ven, Bas Lem and Jeroen van den Brande, Brande & Verheij LLP
Brussels I Regulation (Recast), the recognition and enforcement can be refused if the relevant injured party did not have a proper possibility to opt out and/or they were not properly summoned (in the procedure on the basis of the WCAM). For completeness’ sake, a similar defence could, in principle, also be raised in respect of the enforcement of such a judgment in the Netherlands. Whether the judgments delivered in collective actions and settlements and in proceedings on the basis of the assignment model or mandates/powers of attor- ney will also be recognised and be capable of being enforced in other countries is a matter of treaties between the relevant states and, in the absence there- of, the international private law of the country in which recognition and/or enforcement is sought. In 2023, the Dutch Parliament passed a motion noting that under the current legislative regime courts do not seem to perform a “penetrating test” as to the repre- sentativeness of interest organisations, and calling on the government to explore to what extent additional representativeness requirements should be imposed on interest organisations with an idealistic purpose. Further thereto, in early 2024, the government noted that the WAMCA provides that the same should be evaluated in 2025 and that this evaluation will include a thorough review of the representativeness of interest organisa- tions. The entire set of admissibility requirements and the requirements that a number of other countries impose as to the representativeness and admissibility of interest organisations with an idealistic purpose will also be examined. With a view to the motion passed by Par- liament, the government decided to have the WAMCA evaluated in the second half of 2024. The government expected this to be completed in Spring 2025, but the WAMCA is currently still under evaluation. 4. Legislative Reform 4.1 Policy Development In this context, the government also referred to feed- back received from practitioners as to the process- ing times due to the longer admissibility stage, the uncertainties surrounding WAMCA appeals, and the
desirability of a separate regime for collective actions that are brought for an idealistic purpose. 4.2 Legislative Reform No major legislative reform of class actions specifi- cally is expected in the near future. The legislature would be expected to first await the evaluation of the WAMCA to see how it works out in practice and iden- tify the issues (if any) that the judiciary runs into that may need to be resolved through legislative reform. For completeness’ sake, however, it is important to highlight the legislative reform that is intended to sim- plify and modernise the rules on evidence in Dutch proceedings in general. The new rules entered into force on 1 January 2025. These rules do not comprise major changes as compared to the current rules. Less has come of the emphasis on the obligation of both the claimant and the defendant to gather as much evidence as possible before the proceedings are initi- ated than was initially intended. A key feature of the legislative reform is the expansion of the right to disclosure, which can, as described in 3.10 Disclosure and Privilege , under the new rules also be requested out of court. A party to a legal relationship will have the right to demand disclosure from a person who has certain information about such legal relation- ship at its disposal or in its custody, if the first has a sufficient interest in doing so. The latter is in principle obliged to provide the information upon request, unless they can invoke compelling reasons not to do so. The new rules only apply to legal proceedings initi- ated after 1 January 2025. If proceedings have been initiated before this date, the former rules continue to apply until the then current instance has ended. In any subsequent instance, the new rules will apply.
5. Key Trends 5.1 Impact of Key Trends
In addition to 4.1 Policy Development and 4.2 Legis- lative Reform , please refer to the Netherlands Trends & Developments chapter in this guide.
178 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook