Chapter 2
in forceJudicial proceedings
Section 1
General provisions
The courts belonging to the judiciary are:
Sections 2 and 6 do not apply to the Supreme Court (Hoge Raad).
Unless otherwise provided by law, the hearings shall be public, on pain of nullity.
On penalty of nullity, the pronouncement of judgments and rulings in civil and criminal cases shall take place in public, and these decisions shall…
The board of a court shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers for the hearing and adjudication of cases and for the swearing-in of…
The presiding judge of the multi-judge chamber shall conduct a roll-call vote in chambers. The presiding judge shall give his opinion last.
Deputy justices and deputy judges may be summoned by the board for the hearing and determination of cases.
The Council may, in agreement with the judicial officer working at a court of appeal or a district court and the board of the court where he is…
In each seat of the court, as referred to in Article 21b, paragraph 1, there shall be a registry. The registries shall be open on all working days…
Rules regarding the order of business within the courts shall be established by Order in Council.
Judicial officers charged with the administration of justice, judges in training and public prosecutors in training, senior judicial research…
The judicial officers charged with the administration of justice, the judges in training and the public prosecutors in training, the senior judicial…
Section 1a
Handling of complaints by the Supreme Court
Any person who has a complaint regarding the manner in which a judicial officer charged with the administration of justice has conducted himself…
The Prosecutor General is not obliged to comply with the petition referred to in Article 13a if:
Without prejudice to Article 13a, paragraph 1, the Procurator General may also, of his own motion, institute a claim before the Supreme Court for an…
A claim before the Supreme Court as referred to in Article 13a or 13c shall be heard by a chamber designated for that purpose by the rules of…
The Supreme Court may request the relevant court administration, the person to whose conduct the investigation relates, the petitioner, and others to…
The Supreme Court shall assess whether the person to whose conduct the investigation relates has acted properly in the matter under investigation…
The Procurator General at and the President of the Supreme Court shall annually draw up a report of the activities performed in accordance with…
Section 2
The organisation of the courts
At a court, the following persons are employed:
Any person who has a complaint regarding the manner in which a judicial officer charged with the administration of justice has conducted himself…
The Procurator General shall comply with the petition unless:
The claim of the Procurator General for the institution of an investigation into the conduct referred to in the petition shall be heard by a Chamber…
The Supreme Court shall provide the petitioner and the official to whose conduct the petition relates the opportunity to be heard, whether or not in…
The Supreme Court shall decide by means of a judgment, in which it includes its findings regarding the objections mentioned in the petition and…
Each court has a board, which consists of three members, including the presiding judge.
The chairperson, or alternatively the other judicial member of the board, shall receive during their term of appointment as chairperson or other…
The board may only take decisions if at least half of the number of members is present.
The board may authorise one or more members of the board to exercise one or more of its powers. Section 10.1.1 of the General Administrative Law Act…
The board shall adopt internal regulations, which shall in any event contain further rules regarding:
The board shall adopt board regulations, which shall in any event contain further rules regarding:
The board shall establish a case distribution regulation, in which it is determined per court location for which categories of cases hearings are…
The regulations referred to in Articles 19 up to and including 21 require the approval of the Council. Articles 10:28 up to and including 10:31 of…
By Order in Council, court locations shall be designated for each court within the jurisdiction in which the court is situated. In doing so, account…
The court locations and other court locations, respectively, of the District Court of Amsterdam, the District Court of East Brabant, the District…
With the exception of deputy justices and deputy judges who do not perform their duties on the basis of an appointment as referred to in Article 5f…
The board is charged with the general management, the organisation and the operational management of the court. In particular, the board is…
The Council may instruct the boards of the courts to perform one or more of the tasks referred to in Article 23, paragraph 1, points (a) and (c)…
The board may, for the performance of its duties referred to in Article 23, paragraph 1, issue general and specific instructions to all officials…
With regard to the non-judicial member of the board, the powers under the Public Servants Act 2017 (Ambtenarenwet 2017) and Title 10 of Book 7 of the…
The board shall establish a regulation for the handling of complaints.
The president represents the court.
The court assembly may advise the board, whether solicited or unsolicited, regarding the performance of the task referred to in Article 23, paragraph…
With due observance of the rules referred to in Article 97, paragraph 1, the Council shall annually allocate a general budget to each court, to be…
The Council shall inform each court as soon as possible after the notification referred to in Article 101 of the budget, including the conditions to…
The board shall annually establish an annual plan for the court. The plan shall contain:
The Board shall establish the budget of the court as part of the annual plan in accordance with the budget estimated by the Council, as referred to…
The Council shall notify each court as soon as possible after the adoption of the budget of the Ministry of Security and Justice of the budget it…
If the budget has not obtained the approval of the Council, the board shall at all times require the approval of the Council to incur expenses.
The board shall annually submit a report to the Council by a time to be determined by the Council.
By way of derogation from Article 4.6, paragraph 1, of the Government Accounts Act 2016 (Comptabiliteitswet 2016), the management board shall perform…
The board shall, upon request, provide the Council with the information necessary for the performance of its duties.
A decision of the board for the implementation of the tasks referred to in Article 23, paragraph 1, may be annulled by the Council if the decision is…
In the event of unsuitability other than by reason of illness, the Council may propose to Our Minister that one or more members of the board be…
An interested party may lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against a decision pursuant to Article 38, paragraphs 1 and 2.
Section 3
The courts
Judicial officers charged with the administration of justice, working at the courts, are:
The courts shall have jurisdiction in the first instance over all civil cases, save for exceptions provided by law.
The courts shall have jurisdiction in the first instance to hear administrative law cases the cognizance of which has been assigned to them by law.
The courts shall have jurisdiction in the first instance to hear tax cases the cognizance of which has been assigned to them by law.
The courts shall have jurisdiction in the first instance over all criminal cases, save for exceptions provided by law.
The board of the court shall appoint, from the judicial officers employed at the court who are charged with the administration of justice, examining…
Our Minister may, after consultation with the Council, designate one or more courts whose seats or other sitting locations shall, for the benefit of…
The court may refer a case to another court for further proceedings if, in its judgment, the involvement of the court makes it desirable for the case…
For the purpose of hearing and deciding on subdistrict cases (kantonzaken), the board shall constitute single-judge chambers and determine the…
The board shall constitute multi-judge chambers, designated as agricultural tenancy chambers (pachtkamers), for the hearing and adjudication of…
The expert members of the agricultural tenancy chambers (pachtkamers) of the courts, as referred to in Article 48, paragraph 2, of this Act, and…
The provisions of Articles 46c, 46ca, 46d, 46e, 46f, 46i, with the exception of the first paragraph under c, 46j, 46l, first and third paragraphs…
The board of the court of Gelderland shall constitute a single-judge chamber for the hearing and adjudication of military sub-district cases and…
The board shall constitute single-judge chambers for the handling and adjudication of matters in which a provision is requested in connection with…
For the purpose of hearing and deciding criminal cases in the first instance, other than subdistrict court cases as referred to in Article 47…
The board shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers for the handling and adjudication of cases concerning economic offences, under the…
The board shall constitute single-judge chambers for the handling and adjudication of cases involving children and shall determine the composition…
The board of the District Court of The Hague shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers for the hearing and adjudication of cases…
The board of the Gelderland court shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers, designated as military chambers, for the purpose of hearing…
The board of the District Court of The Hague shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers, designated as chambers for plant breeders'…
The board of the District Court of Noord-Holland shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers, designated as customs chambers, for the…
Section 4
The Courts of Appeal
Judicial officers charged with the administration of justice, working at the courts of appeal, are:
The courts of appeal (gerechtshoven) adjudicate in appeal on judgments, decisions, and rulings in civil cases, criminal cases, and tax cases of the…
The courts of appeal shall take cognizance, in the first and final instance, of jurisdictional disputes between district courts within their…
The courts of appeal shall take cognizance, in the first instance and simultaneously in the final instance, of civil cases subject to appeal in which…
Our Minister may, after consultation with the Council, designate one or more courts of appeal whose seats or other places of session shall, for the…
The court of appeal may refer a case for further proceedings to another court of appeal if, in its opinion, the involvement of the court of appeal…
The board shall constitute single-judge chambers for the handling and adjudication of matters in which a provision is requested in connection with…
The board shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers, designated as economic chambers, for the purpose of hearing and deciding cases in…
The management of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers, designated as customs chambers, for the…
The management of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal shall constitute a multi-judge chamber under the name of Enterprise Chamber (ondernemingskamer) for…
The board of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal shall constitute a multi-judge chamber charged with hearing and deciding cases on appeal as…
The board of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal shall constitute a multi-judge chamber, designated as the military chamber, for the purpose of…
The board of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal shall constitute a multi-judge chamber, designated as the agricultural tenancy chamber…
The expert members of the chamber for agricultural tenancy matters (pachtkamer) of the court of appeal and their deputies shall be appointed by Royal…
The board of the Court of Appeal of The Hague shall constitute a multi-judge chamber, designated as the chamber for plant breeders' rights, for the…
The board of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal shall constitute single-judge and multi-judge chambers for the hearing and adjudication of cases…
Section 5
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court consists of a president, at most seven vice-presidents, at most thirty justices, and at most twenty justices in extraordinary…
In the event of illness or other impediment, the president shall be replaced by a vice-president.
The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) shall provide advice or information when requested to do so by the government.
The Supreme Court shall, upon the proposal of the President, constitute one or more chambers composed of multiple judges and, for cases in which the…
The Supreme Court shall take cognizance, in the first and final instance, of official crimes and official misdemeanours committed by members of the…
The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) takes cognizance, in the first and final instance, of jurisdictional disputes between:
The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) takes cognizance of appeals in cassation against the acts, judgments, verdicts, and decisions of the courts of appeal…
The Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) shall quash acts, judgments, verdicts and orders:
Against a judgment or an order of a subdistrict court judge (kantonrechter) in a civil case against which no appeal can or could be lodged, a party…
The Supreme Court may, after having heard the Procurator General, declare the appeal in cassation inadmissible if the complaints raised do not…
If the Supreme Court rules that a submitted complaint cannot lead to cassation and does not necessitate the answering of legal questions in the…
The Supreme Court takes cognizance of preliminary questions referred by the courts and the courts of appeal.
The Supreme Court is charged with the swearing-in of officials in respect of whom this is determined by or pursuant to the law.
The courts, the courts of appeal and the presidents shall provide information when such is deemed necessary by the Supreme Court for the handling of…
Section 6
COUNCIL FOR THE JUDICIARY
There shall be a Council for the Judiciary (Raad voor de rechtspraak).
Prior to the nomination referred to in Article 84, paragraph 3, Our Minister shall, in agreement with the Council, establish a list of a maximum of…
During their term of appointment as a member of the Council, the judicial members of the Council shall receive, in lieu of the salary in accordance…
If the Council consists of three members, it may only take decisions if at least two members are present. If the Council consists of four or five…
The Council may authorise one or more of its members to exercise one or more of its powers. Section 10.1.1 of the General Administrative Law Act…
To support its activities, the Council has an office at its disposal.
There is a Board of Delegates.
The Council is charged with:
The Council may, for the implementation of the tasks referred to in Article 91, issue general directives to the boards of the courts insofar as this…
Our Minister may issue general directives regarding the performance of the tasks referred to in Article 91 by the Council, insofar as this is…
The Council is tasked with providing support to the activities of the courts that are aimed at the uniform application of the law and the promotion…
The Council is tasked with advising the Government and the States-General regarding generally binding regulations and the policy to be pursued by the…
In the performance of the tasks referred to in Articles 94 and 95, the Council shall not intervene in the procedural handling of, the substantive…
The Council shall establish a regulation for the handling of complaints. Article 26, paragraphs four up to and including six, shall apply mutatis…
Rules regarding the financing of the judiciary shall be established by Order in Council. These shall in any event include rules concerning:
With due observance of the rules referred to in Article 97, paragraph 1, the Council shall annually, prior to the relevant budget year, establish a…
The departmental budget, as referred to in Article 2.1, sixth paragraph, of the Government Accounts Act 2016 (Comptabiliteitswet 2016), shall be…
In accordance with the rules referred to in Article 97, paragraph 1, Our Minister shall annually allocate a budget to the Council, charged to the…
As soon as possible after the submission of the legislative proposal for the adoption of the budget of the Ministry of Security and Justice to the…
The Council shall annually establish an annual plan for the Council and the courts jointly. The plan shall include:
Our Minister shall notify the Council as soon as possible after the adoption of the budget of the Ministry of Security and Justice of the budget he…
The Council shall submit an annual report to Our Minister before a date to be determined by Our Minister. Our Minister shall forward the report…
By way of derogation from Article 4.6, paragraph 1, of the Government Accounts Act 2016 (Comptabiliteitswet 2016), the Council shall perform private…
The Council shall, upon request, provide Our Minister with the information necessary for the performance of his duties.
A decision of the Council for the performance of the tasks referred to in Article 91 may be annulled by Royal Decree upon the recommendation of Our…
In the event of unsuitability other than by reason of illness, Our Minister may nominate one or more members of the Council for dismissal as a member…
An interested party may lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against a decision pursuant to Article 107, paragraphs 1 and 2.
In the exercise of the powers conferred by or pursuant to this Act, Our Minister shall not intervene in the procedural handling of, the substantive…