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Netherlands

Courts in the Netherlands

One national hierarchy — district courts, courts of appeal, and the Hoge Raad as court of cassation — plus the separate highest administrative courts, and why there is no constitutional court.

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The Netherlands has a single national court system. Ordinary cases begin in one of eleven district courts (rechtbanken), which also hear minor matters through their sub-district (kanton) sections; appeals go to one of four courts of appeal (gerechtshoven); and the court of final appeal is the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (the Supreme Court of the Netherlands), the highest court in civil, criminal and tax matters.

The ordinary courts
Eleven district courts (rechtbanken) at first instance, four courts of appeal (gerechtshoven), and the Hoge Raad at the apex for civil, criminal and tax law.
Separate highest administrative courts
Administrative law does not funnel into the Hoge Raad. Its highest courts are separate: the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (Raad van State) for general administrative law, the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep) for social-security and civil-service matters, and the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven) for economic regulation. There is no single unified apex court.
No constitutional court
There is no constitutional court, because Article 120 forbids the courts from reviewing the constitutionality of Acts of Parliament. The place a constitutional court would occupy in other systems is, in the Netherlands, deliberately empty.

The same idea, explained generally

  • What do courts do?

    Courts resolve disputes, test the state’s case against individuals, interpret law, and review public decisions. This guide explains those functions and why judicial independence is structural.

  • What is due process?

    Due process is the requirement that the state follow fair, established procedures before it takes action against a person. This guide explains what it typically includes and how it differs between systems.

Sources

Sources

  1. National ordinary courts — Netherlands (European e-Justice Portal)

    European Commission (European e-Justice Portal) · International organisation · link verified 2026-07-26

    The European Commission's e-Justice portal page on the Dutch court system, read directly. Supports the hierarchy: 11 district courts (rechtbanken) → 4 courts of appeal (gerechtshoven) → the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court of the Netherlands), highest court in civil, criminal and tax law, exercising cassation; and the separate highest administrative courts (the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, the Centrale Raad van Beroep, and the College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven). Establishes that there is no single unified apex and no constitutional court.

  2. The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 2008 (official English translation)

    Government of the Netherlands (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations) · Legislation · 2008 · link verified 2026-07-26

    The official English translation of the Grondwet, fetched as a government.nl PDF and text-extracted. Supports Chapter 6 (administration of justice): Art. 112–113 (adjudication and trial of offences are the judiciary's), Art. 114 ("Capital punishment may not be imposed"), Art. 116 ("The courts which form part of the judiciary shall be specified by Act of Parliament"), Art. 117 (judges and the Procurator General at the Supreme Court appointed for life by Royal Decree — the independence guarantee), Art. 118 (the Supreme Court and cassation), Art. 120 ("The constitutionality of Acts of Parliament and treaties shall not be reviewed by the courts" — no constitutional review of statutes), and Art. 78a (the National Ombudsman). The authoritative text is the Dutch original; this English version is an official reference translation.WAVE 21 ADDITION. Read from the official consolidated Dutch text of the Grondwet at wetten.overheid.nl (BWBR0001840), article by article; the Dutch text is authoritative. Supports Art. 10(1): “Ieder heeft, behoudens bij of krachtens de wet te stellen beperkingen, recht op eerbiediging van zijn persoonlijke levenssfeer”, with 10(2)-(3) on personal-data rules and access. Supports Art. 12(1)-(3): “1 Het binnentreden in een woning zonder toestemming van de bewoner is alleen geoorloofd in de gevallen bij of krachtens de wet bepaald, door hen die daartoe bij of krachtens de wet zijn aangewezen. 2 Voor het binnentreden overeenkomstig het eerste lid zijn voorafgaande legitimatie en mededeling van het doel van het binnentreden vereist, behoudens bij de wet gestelde uitzonderingen. 3 Aan de bewoner wordt zo spoedig mogelijk een schriftelijk verslag van het binnentreden verstrekt. Indien het binnentreden in het belang van de nationale veiligheid of dat van de strafvordering heeft plaatsgevonden, kan volgens bij de wet te stellen regels de verstrekking van het verslag worden uitgesteld.” The VERIFIED NEGATIVE this supports is textual: Art. 12 contains no requirement of judicial authorisation. Supports Art. 13: “1 Ieder heeft recht op eerbiediging van zijn brief- en telecommunicatiegeheim. 2 Beperking van dit recht is mogelijk in de gevallen bij de wet bepaald met machtiging van de rechter of, in het belang van de nationale veiligheid, door of met machtiging van hen die daartoe bij de wet zijn aangewezen.” Supports Art. 15(1)-(2): no one may be deprived of liberty outside cases determined by or pursuant to statute; a person deprived of liberty otherwise than by judicial order may request the court for release, is heard within a statutorily determined period, and the court orders immediate release if it judges the deprivation unlawful. Supports Art. 93: “Bepalingen van verdragen en van besluiten van volkenrechtelijke organisaties, die naar haar inhoud een ieder kunnen verbinden, hebben verbindende kracht nadat zij zijn bekendgemaakt.” Supports Art. 94: “Binnen het Koninkrijk geldende wettelijke voorschriften vinden geen toepassing, indien deze toepassing niet verenigbaar is met een ieder verbindende bepalingen van verdragen en van besluiten van volkenrechtelijke organisaties.” Supports Art. 120: “De rechter treedt niet in de beoordeling van de grondwettigheid van wetten en verdragen.” Supports Art. 121, that hearings take place in public and judgments state the grounds on which they rest, except in cases determined by statute. Reading Arts. 93, 94 and 120 together is what supports the finding that a Dutch court may not review a statute against the Constitution but must decline to apply it where it conflicts with a self-executing treaty provision. Constitutional text only — no decision of the Hoge Raad, no statute, nothing about any other country.

  3. The Dutch judicial system and the Council for the Judiciary

    De Rechtspraak / Raad voor de rechtspraak (Council for the Judiciary) · Government publication · link verified 2026-07-26

    The judiciary's own English portal, read as an overview. Supports that the Hoge Raad is the highest court in civil, criminal and tax matters, and that the Council for the Judiciary (Raad voor de rechtspraak) "is part of the judiciary system, but does not administer justice itself" — it supports the courts' budget and operations. Establishes the judicial-council arrangement named on the oversight page.