Civil Justice: Access, Cost, and Expedition. The Netherlands

Abstract

This chapter starts with a description of the Dutch system of civil procedure. It then discusses Dutch courts and caseload issues, specific social institutions and the related proceedings, litigation avoidance in Dutch society and culture, patterns of litigation in a litigation-avoiding society, procedural issues, the legal profession, and alternative modes of dispute resolution. Overall, the Netherlands experiences less litigation, and fewer problems with court congestion, than its neighbours, not because there is no demand for litigation, but because the supply side of the legal profession and social institutions have responded to the existing incentives to create alternatives to the court process that work better and faster at less cost to the litigant.