Arbitration

Law Firm in the Netherlands specialised in Arbitration

Back to Dispute Resolution

Civil procedural law
Civil procedural law is the collective term for the settlement of disputes between natural and artificial persons by a legally regulated institution. The disputes concern subjects of private law, such as commercial and labour matters, the law of persons and family law, contract law, liability issues, tenders and contracting of works.

Interlocutory proceedings
In Dutch law, an important distinction is made between an ordinary lawsuit, proceedings on the merits of a case and interlocutory proceedings. With interlocutory proceedings, the claimant asks an experienced judge, the judge in interlocutory proceedings, to impose an interim measure quickly. The judge in interlocutory proceedings does not examine the case in detail, and so his decision is of a provisional nature.

Proceedings on the merits of the case
Often the parties will accept the provisional decision of the judge in interlocutory proceedings. However, this does not need to be the case, and the party ruled against can submit the same discussion to the ordinary court in proceedings on the merits of the case. This court will subject the case to a thorough intrinsic examination if necessary. It may be that the successful party in interlocutory proceedings may end up being ruled against in proceedings on the merits of the case.

Appeal
In virtually all Dutch proceedings there is the possibility for appeal. Initially the claimant will submit the dispute to the court. The party ruled against may then submit the case once again, within a statutory period of time, to the Appeal Court. However, the party ruled against must state clearly why the first court gave the wrong decision.

Arbitration
The Code of Civil Procedure also sets out the framework for a Dutch arbitration procedure. The arbitrators and parties have the freedom within that framework to decide on the procedure themselves. The parties may themselves appoint an adjudicator, or arbitrator. Arbitrators are not always lawyers. Usually arbitrators are in fact experts in the area of the law which is at the heart of the dispute. With arbitration, in principle an appeal is not possible unless the parties have precisely agreed on this.

In all the above-mentioned forms of proceedings, the assistance of a lawyer is essential. The lawyer streamlines the discussion and ensures that the judge or arbitrator has the necessary information in a readily understandable form. CMS has many years of experience in this area and can therefore provide you with expert professional assistance.

Subscribe to Dispute Resolutions topics
Stay up-to-date with our client services.

Feed

12/05/2022
Arbitration in post M&A disputes: strategic choice for arbitrators and...
Contribution by Bart-Adriaan de Ruijter and Maurits Rabbie for the e-book 'Managing and Resolving Commercial Disputes 2022' published by Financier Worldwide in association with the International Centre...
25/10/2021
Facing the future of international arbitration
New podcast series exploring the evolving challenges and innovations of international arbitration by the members of the CMS International Arbitration Group
28/06/2019
International Disputes Digest - Summer Edition 2019
Back to main page Welcome to our International Disputes Digest, a new bi-annual publication featuring analysis and commentary on the key trends currently shaping the global dispute resolution market...
11/04/2019
Top rankings CMS in The Legal 500 EMEA 2019
The online edition of The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 2019 has been published. Our lawyers are described as pragmatic, class, pleasant and knowledgeable. CMS is valued for its presence...
17/12/2018
New Dutch court for international commercial disputes to begin work in...
The Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC), the new Dutch court slated to handle international commercial disputes in the Eng­lish-lan­guage, is now set to start its activities and is expecting its first cases...
12/06/2018
Cross-border expertise key to advising multinationals on white-collar crime
A sustained focus on corporate crime by regulators and lawmakers following the 2008 financial crisis, coupled with stricter regulatory controls and new, more aggressive corporate offences, have led to...
13/08/2015
Dutch Court assumes jurisdiction on follow-on damages claims air cargo...
On 22 July 2015, the Amsterdam District Court (the "Court") ruled upon a so-called 'Dutch torpedo', launched in 2011 by Air France/KLM/Mar­tin­air (together: "AF/KLM") against Deutsche Bahn and its group...
03/04/2012
CMS launches 2012 Guide to Arbitration
CMS launched the fourth edition of the CMS Guide to Arbitration yesterday, at the reception of the CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), annual meeting in Vienna. The two-volume guide gives clients...