Supreme Court of the Netherlands

Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Dutch)
Logo of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, The Hague
Map
52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250
Established1 October 1838
JurisdictionKingdom of the Netherlands
LocationThe Hague, Netherlands
Coordinates52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250
MottoUbi iudicia deficiunt incipit bellum
Where judicial decisions fail, Violence begins.
Composition methodSelected by the House of Representatives on advice of the Supreme Court and appointed by royal decree
Authorised byConstitution of the Netherlands
Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Judge term lengthLife tenure with mandatory retirement at the age of 70
Number of positionsVaries (currently 36)
Websitewww.hogeraad.nl
President of the Supreme Court
CurrentlyDineke de Groot
Since1 November 2020[1]
Part of the Politics series
Politics of the Netherlands
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 [ˈɦoːɣə ˈraː dɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)][a] or simply Hoge Raad), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba.[2] The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and is located in The Hague.[3]

The Supreme Court rules on civil and criminal matters. In certain administrative cases it has final jurisdiction as well, while in other cases this jurisdiction rests with the adjudicative division of the Council of State (Raad van State), the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep), the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep van het bedrijfsleven) as well as judicial institutions in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Court is a court of cassation, which means that it has the competence to quash or affirm rulings of lower courts, but no competence to re-examine or question the facts. It only considers whether the lower courts applied the law correctly and the rulings have sufficient reasoning.[4] In so doing it establishes case law.

As the government of the Netherlands is characterised by parliamentary sovereignty, the Supreme Court cannot overturn primary legislation made by the States-General. This is laid out in Article 120 of the Constitution, which states that courts may not rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by the States General and treaties. With the exception of the Constitutional Court of Sint Maarten (which rules on constitutionality with regards to the Sint Maarten constitution only) courts thus have little competence for judicial review with respect to the Constitution.[5][6] However, it is possible for courts (including the Supreme Court) to overturn secondary legislation made by the executive government.

The Supreme Court currently consists of 36 judges: a president, six vice presidents, twenty-five justices (raadsheren, literally "Lords of the Council") and four justices extraordinary (buitengewone dienst).[7] All judges are appointed for life, until they retire at their own request or mandatorily on their 70th birthday.[8]

  1. ^ Central Government 13-3-20 Appointment new president Supreme Court
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference rechtspraakAntAruba was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference rechtspraakHistory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference rechtspraakSupremeCourt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Constitution120 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference judicialreview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "The World Factbook". cia.gov. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference rechtspraakJudges was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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