NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Eva Schothorst-Gransier, Claims Made Advocatuur
Representative Proceedings or Co-Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims ). Previously, the so-called Claim Code 2019 served as a code of conduct for claim vehi - cles with principles governing the relationship between a claim vehicle and a third-party funder. On 13 September 2022, the European Parlia - ment adopted a resolution (2020/2130 (INL)), including a proposal for a new directive on the regulation of third-party litigation funding (2023/C 125/01). This proposal is still under consideration. Meanwhile, a study on Mapping Third Party Litigation Funding in the EU was car - ried out. Reference is made to the Final report EC Mapping TRLP in the EU dated 21 March 2025. The study aimed to collect and analyse information on legal frameworks and practices of third-party litigation funding in the EU Mem - ber States and selected third countries (CA, CH, UK, US). The Commission’s services will use the study’s results to prepare future policy deci - sions concerning third-party litigation funding, particularly in the follow-up to the Resolution of the European Parliament of 13 September 2022 on responsible funding of litigation. Legal Aid Individuals with insufficient financial means to secure legal representation might be eligible for legal aid under the conditions outlined in the Legal Aid Act. 2.16 Existence of Class Actions, Representative Proceedings or Co- Ordinated Proceedings in Product Liability Claims Two causes of collective action are available under Dutch law, as follows.
WCAM Procedure The Dutch Act on the Collective Settlement of Mass Damage (WCAM), as laid down in Arti - cle 7:907 of the DCC, provides that a collec - tive settlement must be approved as binding by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal before it can be On 1 January 2020, the Dutch Collective Redress Act (WAMCA) came into force. A claim vehicle can initiate a collective damages action on an opt-out basis. The WAMCA is characterised by the following: • it only applies to actions that relate to events that occurred on or after 15 November 2016; • strict admissibility requirements apply for the claim vehicle; • the so-called “scope rule” requires a claim to have a sufficiently close connection to the Dutch jurisdiction before it can be brought under the WAMCA; enforced. WAMCA • collective claims must be registered in the Central Register, which is publicly accessible; • if there are several claim vehicles for the same event, the Court will appoint an Exclusive Representative from among the claimants who shall act for the interests of all parties in the litigation; • the Court classifies the individual claim - ants into groups for the purpose of damage awards, which is known as damage schedul - ing; and • a final judgment on a collective action binds all people residing in the Netherlands who have not opted out and all non-Dutch resi - dents who opted in. Product Liability Currently, there are two WAMCA product liability class actions pending in the Netherlands.
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