Litigating in English: the establishment of a Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC) and a Netherlands Commercial Court of Appeal (NCCA)

In my previous Legal Update I stated that while several arbitration institutes in the Netherlands do offer the option to litigate in English, to date this is not the case for the government judicial system. However, this will soon change.

On 11 December 2018, the Dutch Senate approved the bill for the establishment of a Netherlands Commercial Court and a Netherlands Commercial Court of Appeal.

The aim of this bill is to make it possible to conduct legal proceedings in English in the Netherlands at the (still to be established) international commercial divisions of the Amsterdam District Court and the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. This international commercial division will be called the Netherlands Commercial Court (or NCC) as part of the Amsterdam District Court and Netherlands Commercial Court of Appeal (or NCCA) as part of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.

It is not yet clear when the NCC and NCCA will be opening their doors. We will keep you informed through our Legal Updates.

This is a Legal Update from Sonja Kruisinga.

Download pdf