Commercial Litigation Lawyers in the Netherlands

Ways of settling commercial litigation in the Netherlands

The Netherlands’ justice system comprises several courts divided according to the cases they handle. The main areas of law in the Dutch court system are:

• civil;
• administrative;
• criminal.

The Netherlands also has other judicial bodies which try cases with respect to specific situations. Among these, commercial disputes can be tried by civil courts ; the Administrative Court for Trade and Industry (CBb) only hears administrative-law appeals in economic matters. However, during the last few years, the Netherlands has also established other ways of setting commercial-related litigation: arbitration and mediation. Both actions are characterized by confidentiality and privacy which is what makes more and more companies choose these options when it comes to commercial litigation.

Also, since 1 January 2019 the Netherlands has had its own Commercial Court (NCC), which handles international disputes related to commercial transactions.

For more information about the country’s court system you can refer to our commercial litigation lawyers in the Netherlands.

Commercial disputes resolution through arbitration in Netherlands

One of the most employed tools for resolving commercial litigation in the Netherlands is arbitration. The number of Dutch companies settling commercial disputes through arbitration has risen a lot during the last few years, mainly because of the reduced amount of money and time used in this type of proceedings. The Netherlands has its own legislation with respect to this practice: the Arbitration Act which was last amended in 2015 in order to provide a safe legal framework for settling business disputes. Arbitration proceedings are conducted by the Arbitration Institute and the parties involved in the process can request the assistance of our commercial litigation attorneys in the Netherlands.

Resolving Dutch commercial litigation through mediation

Another frequently used method of settling commercial disputes is mediation. The Netherlands Mediation Institute (NMI) was set up in 1993 (since 2014: Mediators Federation Netherlands, MfN) and keeps a record of registered mediators who can take up cases from different area of the law, including commercial litigation. The mediator’s role in a commercial dispute is to help litigating companies reach an agreement. If the litigant parties do not reach an agreement, the mediation ends without a binding decision and the dispute can be brought before a court or arbitrators.

If you need legal assistance in resolving commercial disputes, do not hesitate to contact our commercial litigation lawyers in the Netherlands.