Attorney Holland

  [Column] Abolish the ban on testing! It's King's Day and I'm dreading the deadline for this column. Without tompouce. But with a cup of coffee. What am I going to talk about this time? Last time I already mentioned the limitation of the scope of procedural documents on appeal. [1] This is still current and in that matter summary proceedings will be filed on 26 May 2021. Or about the rule of law that is falling further and further into decline thanks to successive Rutte cabinets? The fact that the rule of law is not in good shape is not only apparent from the fact that lawyers keep drawing attention to it and that the allowance affair shows that good (financed) legal aid against our government is a must. 'The other side of the table' also demands attention for the restoration of the rule of law. The Council for the Judiciary sent a letter to informateur Tjeenk Willink on 16 April 2021. [2] It makes 10 recommendations for fair, accessible,...

  Process costs: certainty If you litigate against a foreign party, it can sometimes become difficult to collect the legal costs. In some cases you can demand security for the legal costs from the other party. In this blog I explain in which cases this is and is not possible. Security for litigation costs Article 224 DCCP of the Code of Civil Procedure contains a regulation that provides security for legal costs. Paragraph 1 of it is somewhat cryptic who can use this: “All persons without domicile or habitual residence in the Netherlands who file a claim with a Dutch court or join or intervene in proceedings here are obliged to provide security at the request of the other party for the costs of the proceedings and the compensation for payment of which they could be sentenced. turn into." In understandable Dutch it says: the defendant can obtain security in the event that the court rejects the forei...

  Litigation costs: lawyer's salary When a judge pronounces a verdict, in the majority of cases the loser is ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings. The loser then has to pay the other's legal costs. The litigation costs consist of several items. This includes the costs of serving the summons, any attachment costs, the salary of the opposing party's lawyer and subsequent costs. In this blog I will discuss the salary of the lawyer. Lawyer's Salary In the Netherlands, except in intellectual property cases, the actually incurred attorney's fees are not charged to the losing party. The lawyer's salary is estimated according to the liquidation rate. The liquidation rate depends on the procedural acts performed and the importance of the case (the amount of the claim). The liquidation rate is a recommendation, but in practice all courts and tribunals follow this recommendation. Example This may sound rather a...

  Process costs: how does it work? There are risks associated with litigation. The judge can reject your claim, then you have incurred costs for your lawyer or authorized representative and you are still empty-handed. In addition, you will usually also be ordered to pay the legal costs of the other party. In this blog I explain how the settlement of the legal costs works. Cost-effective? A common misunderstanding is that the other party reimburses all costs if you win a procedure.  Fully reimbursed The costs that are in principle fully reimbursed are: costs for service of the summons; costs associated with attachments; cost of an expert. Not fully reimbursed This does not apply to attorney fees. These costs are not fully reimbursed. Except in intellectual property matters, such as a dispute over a trade name or a trademark...

  Litigation costs: joint and several liability? The judge usually orders the losing party in a procedure to pay the costs of the other party. How the legal costs are determined can be found in my blog legal costs: how does it work? Who for which part? But what if two parties are ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings. Can the winner address each of his opponents only for half? Or are they always jointly and severally liable for payment of the legal costs? Or are they only jointly and severally liable if you claim that? What is headship? If several parties are jointly and severally liable, this means that the creditor can hold the joint and several parties liable for the entire amount. This means that the creditor can choose who to address and for what amount. If one party pays the entire amount to the creditor, he can sue the other parties so that they have all paid an equal part. This is called internal reco...

  The mandatory payment arrangement coming up In the fight against problematic debts, outgoing Minister of Legal Protection Dekker intends to give judges the power to impose a payment arrangement on parties. [1]   Cause The reason for giving the court this power is that research shows: “that there is a significant group of creditors who reject debtors' requests for payment arrangements. Even if the debtor demonstrates that the non-payment is due to inability to pay.” [2] Furthermore, debtors appear to be too hesitant and do not contact the creditor. [3] The result of this is legal proceedings, of which 70-80% are cases in absentia, which in turn leads to many extra costs for the debtor (court fee, attorney's salary, bailiff's costs and subsequent costs). This increases the debtor's indebtedness.   Deviation This authority means an amen...

  Resignation In this blog I discuss the legal term resignation in the context of civil procedural law. It discusses what resignation is, what the consequence is and what the conditions are. What is resignation? Resignation is when a party to the proceedings accepts the decision. It therefore refers to the waiver of the right to appeal against the court decision. [1] Or, as the Supreme Court put it in 1941, “that further struggle is given up” . [2] Resignation can therefore be found in several places in the Code of Civil Procedure ('Rv'), including the following situations: it applies if an objection is lodged against a default judgment in (article 143 paragraph 4 DCCP): “The convicted person who has resigned to the verdict can no longer object to it”; 2. it applies to appeal proceedings (Article 334 DCCP): “Any party w...

The gown and the bef Lawyers, judges and public prosecutors wear a toga with a bef in the courtroom. A toga is a kind of black suit or, if you will, a black dress. The bef is the white piece of cloth that hangs around the neck at the front. the gown Since 1838, the modern legal profession has been obliged to wear a black gown with a white bib during court hearings and when taking the oath . Or, as the Regulations [1] put it at the time: “[…] a black undergarment, closed gown of black grain with wide sleeves; a cap of the same material, and a drooping bib of white batiste.” Why a gown? The purpose of the gown is to emphasize that the wearer is not acting as a person, but as an officer, such as a judge or lawyer. Because of the black toga everyone is equal and the distinction in clothing is negated. The white bef stands for neutrality. Gown conditions The Regulations from 1838 no longer apply, ...

Submit digital attachment claims in Amsterdam Cause After the failure of the KEI Programme , the judiciary reconsidered digital litigation. This led to the Basic Plan for Digitization of Civil and Administrative Law ('Basic Plan'). The Basic Plan has the apt subtitle 'reset digitization KEI'. Basic plan for digitization of civil and administrative law The Basic Plan must become a new solution for digital litigation in the areas of civil law and administrative law. Project Digital Access A consequence of the Basic Plan is the Digital Access Project. This project should lead to a digital letterbox for litigants, a digital mailroom for court registries and a digital file for litigants for all types of civil and administrative cases. In view of the experiences with the KEI Programme, small steps are being taken. It was quiet for a long time. But today the Judiciary announced that...

  2021: the days when a bailiff doesn't work A bailiff may not perform official acts 24/7. In this blog I explain what official acts are and on which days the bailiff is not allowed to perform them. Employment Acts A bailiff can perform official acts and other acts. Article 2 of the Judicial Officers Act states what official acts are : serving subpoenas and other services pertaining to the commencement of proceedings or the instruction of proceedings; making judicial notices, announcements, protests and further writs; evictions, seizures, foreclosures, hostage-takings and other acts, belonging to or required for the execution of enforceable titles or for the preservation of rights; making protests of non-acceptance or non-payment of bills of exchange, order notes and the like and drawing up a deed of intervention at the foot of the protest; the official supervision o...

  [Column] Lead times: lawyer solve it! The judiciary is not doing well. The lead times remain too long and there is still a staff shortage. This also applies (especially?) to the courts of appeal. After the last procedural act it can easily take a year before there is a judgment. The turnaround times have been a point of attention for years and the judiciary has been trying to reduce them for years. The most striking measure to date has been limiting the possibility for lawyers to obtain an extension. That way, the hallway stays in place. At least that's thought. However, the problem no longer seems to lie with the legal profession, because the processing times are still too long and there is still a staff shortage at the judiciary. It is true that the Code of Civil Procedure stipulates that in the case of digital proceedings a decision must be rendered within six weeks, but that rule does not contain any sanction and this rule does not apply to written ...