NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvette Borrius, Emille Buziau, Marit Balkema and Daphne Beunk, Florent B.V.
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 appear- ance stipulated in the original writ. The claim- ant 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 proce- dure for proceedings before the courts of appeal were amended and now 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. 3.5 Rules of Service The claimant is responsible for service of the summons. A bailiff serves the summons to the defendant with at least seven days’ notice prior to the date of court appearance. Subsequent- ly, the claimant must file the served summons with the Court Registrar at the latest on the last business day prior to the date of formal court appearance as stipulated in the summons. The service of judicial documents across nation- al borders is regulated primarily by the 1965 Hague Convention and the EU Regulation No 2020/1784 (the “Service Regulation”). If the defendant resides in either an EU mem- ber state, subject to the Service Regulation, or a contracting state to the 1965 Hague Conven- tion, a minimum period of four weeks should be observed between service of a writ on a defend-
ant and the date of formal court appearance. For defendants residing in other states, a minimum period of three months applies. 3.6 Failure to Respond If the defendant fails to appear in court on the date of formal court appearance, a claimant may obtain a default judgment. In that case, the court first verifies whether the terms and formalities of service of process have been ful- filled and whether all requirements regarding the summons have been met. If this is the case, the court grants leave to proceed in default of the defendant’s non-appearance and the claim is awarded unless the court considers the claim to be prima facie, unlawful or unfounded (Sec- tion 139, DCCP). As long as the final default judgment has not been rendered, the defendant may still appear in court and defend its case. A defendant may apply to set aside a default judgment within four weeks after the judgment has been pronounced (eight weeks if they are domiciled abroad). 3.7 Representative or Collective Actions Collective (class) action procedures are well developed in Dutch law. Injured parties can bundle their claims by giving one person, which can also be an ad hoc foundation or associa- tion ( claimstichting ), power of attorney to act on behalf of all of them (the aggrieved parties could also assign their claim to one such person, which then brings the claim in its own name); alternatively, they can initiate a collective action based on Section 3:305a of the DCC (WCA). The Section 3:305a of the DCC route enables a foundation or association with full legal capac- ity (a “representative interest group”) to institute an action aimed at protecting similar interests of other individual persons to the extent that the
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