NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Yvette Borrius, Emille Buziau, Marit Balkema and Daphne Beunk, Florent B.V.
5. Discovery 5.1 Discovery and Civil Cases
A motion to request the court to allow a joinder or an intervention can be submitted ultimately on the day the last written statement is due to be filed. A joinder or intervention will be allowed when the interested party can demonstrate that it has (sufficient) interest to join or intervene (eg, if its position is affected by the main proceed- ings). 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs Defendants against whom a claim is brought by a claimant with no domicile or residence in the Netherlands may request the court to order that the claimant provides security for the litiga- tion costs (Section 224, DCCP). The practical relevance of the obligation to provide security is limited as a result of several exceptions (eg, no such obligation exists when this follows from a treaty or EU regulation). 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions In addition to the order to pay costs in the main proceedings, the court may separately order payment of costs in its decision on the procedur- al issues. The losing party is generally ordered to pay the costs (see 11.1 Responsibility for Pay- ing the Costs of Litigation ). 4.7 Application/Motion Timeframe To the extent deemed required, the court decides first and in advance upon any preliminary appli- cations. This is assessed in accordance with the nature and the contents of the claim, the inter- ests of the parties and the interest of an efficient litigation process. In principle, there is a time- frame of two weeks for a statement of defence in a procedural issue, and four weeks for a ruling.
Dutch procedural law does not provide for dis- covery or disclosure procedures comparable to common law systems. The following instruments are available for obtaining information. Parties with a legitimate interest may request the production of (copies of) exhibits (Section 843a, DCCP). See 5.3 Discovery in This Juris- diction . This request may be made in preliminary relief proceedings, as an interim action in ongo- ing proceedings or in (separate) proceedings on the merits. Interested parties may request the court for a provisional examination of witnesses or order a provisional expert report (Sections 186 and 202, DCCP). These requests can be made prior to or during main proceedings. The aforementioned ways of acquiring informa- tion or gathering evidence are administered by the court. 5.2 Discovery and Third Parties An application for the production of (copies of) exhibits may, under certain circumstances, be extended to a third party. As of 1 January 2025, as part of the new Act on Modernisation of the Law of Evidence, the application can be addressed to the person/entity in possession of the relevant information (see 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform ). 5.3 Discovery in This Jurisdiction For the requests for the production of (copies of) exhibits to be granted on the basis of Section 843a, DCCP, three cumulative conditions must be satisfied:
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