NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvette Borrius, Emille Buziau, Marit Balkema and Daphne Beunk, Florent B.V.
• the right to nullify an agreement in the case of deception or error becomes time-barred three years after discovery thereof; and • the right to demand the annulment of a reso- lution of a constituent body of a legal entity becomes time-barred after one year following the notification or knowledge thereof. 3.3 Jurisdictional Requirements for a Defendant Dutch courts have international jurisdiction if there are legal provisions to this effect or if the parties have selected a Dutch court as the forum for hearing any disputes arising between them. The European Council Regulation EU No 1215/2012 of 12 December 2012 (Brussels I Recast) contains the most important set of rules regarding international jurisdiction. The Lugano Convention on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters is in force between EU member states and Swit- zerland, Norway and Iceland. The Convention on choice of court agreements (the Hague, 2005) is applicable when it comes to exclusive choice of court agreements between parties to commer- cial transactions from EU member 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 inter- national jurisdiction. These rules are very similar to the international jurisdiction rules of Brussels I Recast. The basic rule is that the Dutch courts have juris- diction if the defendant is domiciled in the Neth- erlands (Section 2, DCCP). The Dutch courts also have jurisdiction if the parties have agreed to elect a Dutch court to adjudicate disputes that have arisen or may arise from their legal relation- ship (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 attach- ment has jurisdiction over the claim in the prin- cipal 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 unac- ceptable for the claimant. This only applies in limited and exceptional circumstances such as war, natural disasters or discrimination in the for- eign country. The forum non conveniens doc- trine does not apply. 3.4 Initial Complaint There are two main types of civil procedures in the Netherlands: procedures initiated by a sum- mons ( dagvaarding ) and procedures initiated by an application ( verzoekschrift ). Summons are used for claims in ordinary civil suits; applica- tions apply in disputes involving employment, leases, family matters and certain corporate matters, such as proceedings before the Enter- prise Court. Proceedings initiated by summons are the most important in terms of numbers of cases and financial interests involved. The summons must give a detailed descrip- tion 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 arguments put forward by the defendant as far as these are known to the claimant. The claimant must also indicate what evidence is available to support the claim and provide names of possible witnesses.
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