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THE NETHERLANDS
Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
I. COUNTRY PROFILE (Civil Law)
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy that consists of twelve
provinces, and also includes the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Netherlands Antilles and
Aruba have a separate legal system, but it is based on the Dutch system. The capital of the
Netherlands is Amsterdam, but the political capital is The Hague. The official languages are
Dutch and Frysian. The Netherlands’ legal system is based on the civil law tradition. The
Netherlands is a Member State of the European Union.
Executive power is vested in the Government. The Government is nominally headed by
the Monarch, whose duties are largely ceremonial. Executive power is exercised primarily by
executive cabinet, the Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers. The Monarch’s functions
include reading the Troonrede, a presentation of the most important governmental plans for the
coming year, on the third Tuesday of September. During elections, the Monarch appoints the
person who is in charge of the formation of a new cabinet. The cabinet consists of fourteen
ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, who are selected from the party or parties who hold a
majority of the seats in Parliament.
The Council of State (De Raad van State), composed of the Monarch, the heir apparent,
and the Councilor, advises the Prime Minister regarding legislation, signature and ratification of
international treaties, and other matters which should, by law, be heard by the Council of State
before the Government can act. Furthermore, the Council can give unsolicited advice to the
Government.
Legislative power is vested in a bicameral legislature. Within the legislature, the First
Chamber (Eerste Kamer) has seventy-five members who are elected by members of the
Provincial governors (Provinciale Staten). Its tasks include rejecting or accepting legislation (it
cannot propose legislation), and controlling the cabinet. The 150 members of the Second
Chamber (Tweede Kamer) are directly elected by the people. The Second Chamber controls the
cabinet, and has the right to change, approve or reject a legislation proposed by the Government.
The most important legislation is that passed by both chambers that constitute the States General
(Staten Generaal) together with the central government, the Crown (Kroon) together with the
ministers.
Judicial power is vested in the courts. Dutch courts usually have three different
chambers: civil law, criminal law, and administrative law chambers. There are four levels of
courts. The lowest level is comprised of the sixty-two subdistrict sector courts
(Kantongerechten), each administered by one judge, which are distributed over the whole
country and serve as courts of first instance in labor and rent disputes, and claims involving
small amounts of money. The second level courts, serving as courts of first instance in other
matters such as administrative law, are the District Courts (Rechtbanken). There are nineteen
District Courts. Each consists of several chambers comprised of three judges, one of which is
the presiding judge. The third level courts are the five Courts of Appeal (Gerechtshoven), which
serve as general courts of appeal and courts of first instance for tax law. The Courts of Appeal
also consist of several chambers, again comprised of three judges, including a presiding one.
Some of these courts have divisions that handle cases in particular subject areas, such as
enterprise or military issues.
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