Supreme Court of the Netherlands

Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Hoge Raad der Nederlanden

Established 1 October 1838
Country Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Aruba
Location The Hague, Netherlands
Coordinates 52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250Coordinates: 52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250
Composition method Selected by the House of Representatives on advice of the Supreme Court and appointed by royal decree.
Authorized by Constitution of the Netherlands
Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Judge term length Life tenure with mandatory retirement at the age of 70.
Number of positions Varies (currently 36)
Website www.hogeraad.nl
President of the Supreme Court
Currently Maarten Feteris
Since 1 November 2014[1]
Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)
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The Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch: Hoge Raad der Nederlanden pronounced [ˈhoːɣə raːd dɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)], literally "High Council of the Netherlands") is one of the highest courts of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba.[2] The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and sits in The Hague, Netherlands.[3]

The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is limited primarily to civil, criminal and administrative cases, the latter type being shared with the adjudicative division of the Council of State, the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep) and the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep van het bedrijfsleven). The Court has the authority to quash rulings by appellate courts (a procedure known as cassation) and thereby establishes case law, but only if the lower court applied the law incorrectly or the ruling lacks sufficient reasoning. The facts determined in the lower court are not reviewed and are accepted as correct.[4] According to Article 120 of the Constitution, the Court may not rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by the States General and treaties. With the exception of Sint Maarten, the Court has thus no competence for judicial review with respect to the Constitution.[5][6]

The Supreme Court currently consists of 36 judges: a president, 6 vice-presidents, 25 justices (raadsheren, literally "Lords of the Council") and 4 justices in exceptional service (buitengewone dienst).[7] All judges are appointed for life, until they retire at their own request or mandatorily at the age of 70.[8]

History

The development of cassation in the Netherlands was heavily influenced by the French during the Batavian Revolution at the end of 18th century. The establishment of the Supreme Court on 1838 brought an end to the Grote Raad van Mechelen and its successor the Hoge Raad van Holland, Zeeland en West-Friesland, which both served as high appellate courts.[3]

Authority

In the Netherlands a case is first heard by one of the ten district courts (rechtbanken). Afterwards, either side may appeal to one of the four courts of appeal (gerechtshoven). Finally, either party may file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court.

Composition

Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by royal decree, chosen from a list of three, advised by the House of Representatives on the advice of the Court itself. The justices are, like every other judge in the Netherlands, appointed for life, until they retire at their own will or after reaching the age of 70. Upon reaching the age of 60, a justice may change status to exceptional (also known as special) service, with the effect that the justice no longer plays a full role at the Court.

The Supreme Court is divided into four chambers: the first or civil chamber, the second or criminal chamber, the third or tax chamber and the fourth or 'ombuds' chamber. The members of the fourth chamber are chosen ad hoc, but will include the President of the Court.[8]

Current justices

As of January 2016, the first three chambers are composed as follows:[8]

Name Chamber Invested Born
Numann, ErnstErnst Numann (Vice President) Civil chamber 2000 1950
Bakels, FlorisFloris Bakels (Vice President) Civil chamber 2003 1949
van Buchem-Spapens, AnnemarieAnnemarie van Buchem-Spapens Civil chamber 1 September 1998 1951
Streefkerk, KeesKees Streefkerk Civil chamber 1 October 2004 1955
Heisterkamp, ToonToon Heisterkamp Civil chamber 1 February 2007 1953
Snijders, GerbrantGerbrant Snijders Civil chamber 1 June 2011 1961
de Groot, DinekeDineke de Groot Civil chamber 1 February 2012 1965
Polak, MartijnMartijn Polak Civil chamber 1 September 2012 1961
van den Brink, VincentVincent van den Brink Civil chamber 1 October 2012 1966
Tanja-Van den Broek, TanjaTanja Tanja-Van den Broek Civil chamber 1 January 2014 1964
van Schendel, WillemWillem van Schendel (Vice President) Criminal chamber 2001 1950
van Dorst, LeoLeo van Dorst (Vice President) Criminal chamber 1999 1949
de Savornin Lohman, BonBon de Savornin Lohman Criminal chamber 1 April 2000 1947
de Hullu, JaapJaap de Hullu Criminal chamber 1 September 2003 1958
Splinter-Van Kan, TinekeTineke Splinter-Van Kan Criminal chamber 24 January 2005 1947
Buruma, YboYbo Buruma Criminal chamber 1 September 2011 1955
van de Griend, ElishewaElishewa van de Griend Criminal chamber 1 February 2014 1963
van Strien, NastjaNastja van Strien Criminal chamber 1 June 2015 1961
Faase, EvelineEveline Faase Criminal chamber 1 September 2015 1958
Borgers, MatthiasMatthias Borgers Criminal chamber 1 January 2016 1973
Balkema, JeppeJeppe Balkema[Note 1] Criminal chamber 1998 1946
Ilsink, JanJan Ilsink[Note 1] Criminal chamber 2003 1946
Feteris, MaartenMaarten Feteris (President) Tax chamber 2008 1960
Overgaauw, JacquesJacques Overgaauw (Vice President) Tax chamber 2008 1951
Koopman, RobertRobert Koopman (Vice President) Tax chamber 1 February 2010 1962
van Vliet, DickDick van Vliet Tax chamber 1997 1946
Bavinck, BernardBernard Bavinck Tax chamber 1 January 2000 1946
Punt, LiesbethLiesbeth Punt Tax chamber 24 January 2005 1962
Schaap, CeesCees Schaap Tax chamber 1 September 2006 1947
van Loon, PietPiet van Loon Tax chamber 1 February 2009 1954
Fierstra, MarcMarc Fierstra Tax chamber 1 June 2009 1959
Groeneveld, TheoTheo Groeneveld Tax chamber 1 February 2012 1948
Wortel, JulesJules Wortel Tax chamber 1 February 2012 1954
van Kalmthout, LoekLoek van Kalmthout Tax chamber 1 June 2013 1955
van Hilten, MarikenMariken van Hilten Tax chamber 1 September 2015 1964
Lourens, PeterPeter Lourens[Note 1] Tax chamber 1999 1946
van den Berge, JaapJaap van den Berge[Note 1] Tax chamber 2001 1948
  1. 1 2 3 4 Justice in exceptional service.

Second World War

During the German occupation, the Supreme Court kept functioning. In November 1940 the occupiers forced the president, Judge L. E. Visser, to resign because he was Jewish. Visser's colleagues did not protest. The members who remained also signed a compulsory declaration about Aryans.

After the liberation, people reproached the Court for a weak and legalistic attitude. The Court wished above all to guarantee the continuity of its jurisdiction and not to become involved in politics. However such chances as there were to take a stand on principle against the Germans were largely missed. The Justices either omitted to give a moral example or felt they were not in a position to do so.[9] This was demonstrated in a so-called "Test sentence", (Supreme Court, 12 January 1942, NJ 1942/271), in which the Supreme Court ruled that a Dutch judge could not contest the decrees of the occupying force on the basis of international law, in particular the 1907 regulation prescribed for a country at war. In this the Supreme Court followed the advice of the barrister-general A. Rombach. The judgment concerned a case in which a man was sentenced by the economic judge for an "economic offence" (the purchase of pork without valid coupons). The counsel for the accused, P. Groeneboom, argued in his defense before the Supreme Court on 27 October 1941 that the judge had the authority to challenge the regulations of the occupying force on the basis of the regulation prescribed for a country at war, the decree of the Führer and the first regulation of the government commissioner. When the Supreme Court (in a judgment of 12 January 1942) denied the possibility of contesting rules issued by the German government, the Netherlands followed what was the rule in Germany and Italy too. On the basis of two emergency measures Hitler had the authority to issue incontestable rules, and the legal establishment acknowledged not it was not allowed to challenge "political" measures. "Political" in this case was what the political authorities considered to be political. In Italy the Court of Appeal recognized the free authority of Mussolini and the judge's lack of authority to control it.[10] Meihuizen says about the Dutch test sentence: "A sentence with far-reaching consequences because with this, barristers were not given the chance to bring before the judge the question of the validity of legislation which had been issued by or on behalf of the occupier."[11]:85 The Supreme Court defended this sentence in retrospect with the conjecture that the Germans would never accept their decrees being contested and might have intervened in a negative way with the legal establishment, resulting in a further diminishing of citizens' legal protection.[9]

In 1943 the seat of the Supreme Court was temporarily moved from The Hague to Nijmegen. With the liberation of Nijmegen in September 1944, this led to a situation in which, although the seat was on liberated ground, most of the Justices found themselves still in occupied territory. After the war, there was not much done to clear matters; lawyers who had collaborated with the Germans generally kept their jobs or got important other positions. A crucial role in this affair was played by J. Donner, who became president of the Supreme Court in 1946.[9]

References

  1. "mr. M.W.C. (Maarten) Feteris, president Hoge Raad". Rechtspraak.nl (in Dutch). Hoge Raad der Nederlanden. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  2. "Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba". Rechtspraak.nl (in Dutch). De Rechtspraak. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Geschiedenis van de Hoge Raad". Rechtspraak.nl (in Dutch). De Rechtspraak. 18 September 2004. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  4. "Supreme Court". Rechtspraak.nl. De Rechtspraak. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2009.
  5. According to article 120 of the Constitution of the Netherlands, judges will not rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by the States General and treaties.
  6. For a discussion of judicial review in the Netherlands see J. Uzman, T. Barkhuysen, and M.L. van Emmerik, "The Dutch Supreme Court: A Reluctant Positive Legislator?" (PDF). Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  7. "The World Factbook". cia.gov.
  8. 1 2 3 "Raad". Rechtspraak.nl (in Dutch). De Rechtspraak. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Corjo Jansen en Derk Venema, "The Supreme Court and the Second World War" (in Dutch), Boom, Amsterdam, 2011.
  10. Derk Venema, "Judges in war time: The Dutch judiciary's confrontation with national socialism and the occupation" (in Dutch), Boom, Amsterdam, 2007.
  11. Joggli Meihuizen, "Narrow Margins. The Dutch Bar during World War II." (in Dutch), Boom, Amsterdam, 2010 (an English summary was also published by Boom, Amsterdam, 2010).

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