NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvette Borrius, Emille Buziau, Marit Balkema and Daphne Beunk, Florent B.V.
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System The Dutch legal system is based on civil law. The most important rules are laid down in the Dutch Civil Code (DCC). The Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (DCCP) sets out the rules governing civil procedure in the Netherlands. The Dutch system follows an adversarial model. Typically, each party submits a written docu- ment, after which an oral hearing takes place. Subsequently, the court delivers a judgment. The courts (except for the Supreme Courtand NCC) require parties to file their court documents in hard copy. Depending on the circumstances (ie, larger cases or cross-border matters, with foreign parties) and upon request, courts facili- tate (foreign) parties to join physical court hear- ings by videoconference. The belief in the rule of law and trust in legal institutions is robust in the Netherlands. International benchmark studies show that the Dutch legal system is considered fast, efficient, accessible and fair. The Dutch legal system ranks amongst the highest in the world according to the World Justice Project. 1.2 Court System There are three levels of judicial instances in the Dutch civil court system, being the district courts ( rechtbanken ), appellate courts ( gerechtshoven ) and the Supreme Court; all of which are national courts. The judges in each court are appointees. There is no jury system and bench trials are used for both civil and criminal cases. District Courts In the first instance, civil cases are brought before one of the 11 district courts and most cases are handled by a single judge; however,
more complex cases are often referred to a full- bench panel of three judges. The district courts are made up of three sectors: administrative law, civil law and criminal law. The civil law sector of the district courts has a subdistrict law sec- tor which has exclusive jurisdiction over small claims. Certain district courts have divisions that are specialised in certain areas of law, such as intellectual property (Hague District Court) and shipping and transport (Rotterdam District Court). The Court of Appeal Appeals against judgments rendered by the district court in civil and criminal cases can be lodged at one of the four appellate courts. Appeal cases are dealt with by a full-bench panel of three judges. Appeals against administrative law judgments are lodged at one of three spe- cialised administrative law tribunals. Administra- tive and tax procedures provide for a manda- tory initial internal complaints procedure prior to court procedures. The court of appeal is not bound by the facts established by the court of first instance (ie, the district courts). The Enterprise Court at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ( Ondernemingskamer ) serves as the court of first instance in matters involving shareholder governance disputes, mismanage- ment and similar corporate issues, or as the appellate court in certain corporate litigation disputes. As of 1 January 2025, shareholders’ disputes ( geschillenregeling ) will be converted into application procedures, conducted in a sin- gle instance at the Enterprise Chamber (see 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform ). The Enterprise Court consists of a panel of five judg- es, which includes three members of the judici- ary and two laypersons with specialist expertise.
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