NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvette Borrius, Christine Vreede, Tiffany Zandbergen and Daphne Beunk, Florent B.V.
states and – amongst others – the United Kingdom. If no international treaty (including Brussels I Recast) applies, the national rules laid down in the DCCP determine whether the Dutch courts have international jurisdiction. These rules are very similar to the interna- tional jurisdiction rules of Brussels I Recast. The basic rule is that the Dutch courts have jurisdic- tion if the defendant is domiciled in the Netherlands (Section 2, DCCP). Alternative grounds of jurisdiction include (amongst others): • contractual obligations – if the obligation forming the basis of the claim is to be performed in the Netherlands (Section 6 (a) DCCP); • tort – if the harmful event occurred or may occur in the Netherlands (Section 6 (e) DCCP; and • multiple defendants – if there are several defend- ants with closely connected claims and at least one of them is domiciled in the Netherlands (Sec- tion 7 DCCP). The Dutch courts also have jurisdiction if the parties have agreed to elect a Dutch court to adjudicate dis- putes that have arisen or may arise from their legal relationship (Section 8, DCCP). Furthermore, if an attachment is levied on assets located in the Netherlands, and there is no other way of obtaining an enforceable title, the Dutch court that granted permission to levy the attachment has juris- diction over the claim in the principal action (Section 767, DCCP). Section 767 of the DCCP may not be invoked if the parties have agreed on the exclusive jurisdiction of a foreign court. Pursuant to the forum necessitatis doctrine laid down in Section 9 of the DCCP, the Dutch courts may assume jurisdiction when legal proceedings outside the Netherlands are impossible or unacceptable for the claimant. This only applies in limited and excep- tional circumstances such as war, natural disasters or discrimination in the foreign country. The forum non conveniens doctrine does not apply. 3.4 Initial Complaint There are two main types of civil procedures in the Netherlands: procedures initiated by a summons
(dagvaarding) and procedures initiated by an appli- cation (verzoekschrift). Summons are used for claims in ordinary civil suits; applications apply in disputes involving employment, leases, family matters and cer- tain corporate matters, such as proceedings before the Enterprise Court. Proceedings initiated by sum- mons are the most important in terms of numbers of cases and financial interests involved. The summons must give a detailed description of the nature of the dispute giving all the relevant facts, the legal grounds on which the claim is based and the relief sought, as well as stating and refuting all argu- ments put forward by the defendant as far as these are known to the claimant. The claimant must also indi- cate what evidence is available to support the claim and provide names of possible witnesses. Procedural errors or omissions in the summons which could lead to it being nullified may be amended by the claimant by issuing a recovery writ prior to the date of the formal court appearance stipulated in the original writ. The claimant can still amend or increase its claim or legal grounds by submitting a written conclusion or statement as long as the court has not rendered its final judgment. The defendant may object to any amendment or increase of claim on the grounds that it is contrary to the requirements of due process. As from 1 April 2021, the national rules of procedure for proceedings before the courts of appeal stipulate a maximum length of 15 to 25 pages for statements and other procedural documents (unless, based on a substantiated request, additional pages have been granted).The Supreme Court has ruled that such page limit is allowed. As from 1 July 2025, district courts also impose limits on the length of submissions. How- ever, the rules operate differently from those at the courts of appeal. The length of a procedural docu- ment (excluding exhibits) must be proportionate to the nature, complexity and importance of the case. If this is not the case, the district court may order the replacement of the document with one that adheres to a prescribed maximum page limit. For any court document exceeding 25 pages, a brief explanation for such length is necessary.
774 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook