THE THREE STAGES OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
General observations regarding adversarial proceedings
All adversarial proceedings in the Dutch Caribbean shall be initiated by means of a petition to the Court of First Instance of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba. Claims will be denied or rejected (afgewezen) by the Court if ruled that they are unfounded. If a claim is denied for reasons other than the merits of the claim then the claimant’s complaint will be declared non-admissible (niet-ontvankelijk). In exceptional cases the petition will be declared void and in some cases the court may rule that it is not competent to hear the case.
An appeal can …
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ORDINARY ADVERSARIAL VERSUS SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
The court only considers the key issues
According to Article 110 and 111 of the Netherlands Antilles Code of Civil Proceedings (NACCP), all adversarial proceedings shall be initiated by means of a petition to the Court of First Instance. Proceedings so initiated are ordinary proceedings, unless the petitioner expressly opts for preliminary relief proceedings (kort geding) under article 226 NACCP. This article provides that in urgent cases which require an immediate decision the plaintiff may request a provisional decision (beslissing bij voorraad).
Article 229 NACCP provides that a provisional decision rendered as a result of this special type of proceeding …
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OBITER DICTUM OR NOT?
Litigating twice on the same matter is not allowed
The Netherlands Antilles Code of Civil Procedure prevents parties from litigating twice on the same legal issue. The principle that a final judgment of a competent court is conclusive upon the parties in any subsequent litigation involving the same cause of action is known as ‘res judicata’. A Dutch court case is described below illustrating this principle: Utrecht District Court of 19 March 2009 (NJF 2009/291).
In initial litigation, the claimant had sought payment of certain contractual penalties. The Court of Appeals rejected the claim on two separate grounds, the first …
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DUTCH CARIBBEAN LITIGATION AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FACTS
Failing to contest may make a fact true
Facts play an important role in civil litigation. Facts are established by the Court in First Instance of the Netherlands Antilles or Aruba and by the Joint Court of Appeal of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, not by the Supreme Court. A review by the Supreme Court is not a full review, but is limited to verifying that the Court whose judgment is under review has not breached Netherlands Antilles laws (or Aruban laws as the case may be) and that there have been no defects in the proceedings resulting in the …
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ORDINARY VERSUS SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS IN ARUBA
Interlocutory or summary proceedings provide for immediate relief
Article 110 of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba Code of Civil Procedure (‘the Code’) provides that all adversarial proceedings shall be initiated by means of a petition to the court of first instance. Proceedings so initiated are ordinary proceedings a.k.a. proceedings on the merits.
A petitioner may opt for preliminary relief proceedings (a.k.a. interlocutory proceedings; ‘kort geding’). Article 226 of the Code provides that in urgent cases which require an immediate decision, the plaintiff may request a provisionally enforceable judgment (‘beslissing bij voorraad’).
Article 229 of the Code provides that a provisional …
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