Law of the Netherlands
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2022) |
TheNetherlandsusescivil law.The role ofcase lawis small in theory, although in practice it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without also taking into account the relevantcase law.The Dutch system of law is based on the FrenchCivil Codewith some influence fromRoman-Dutch law(which it replaced) and pre-codalcustomary law.The new Civil Code (which went into force in 1992) was heavily influenced by the GermanBürgerliches Gesetzbuch.
The primary law-making body is formed by the Dutch parliament in cooperation with the government, operating jointly to create laws they are commonly referred to as the legislature (Dutch:wetgever). The power to make new laws can be delegated to lower governments or specific organs of the State, but only for a prescribed purpose. A trend in recent years has been for parliament and the government to create "framework laws" and delegate the creation of detailed rules to ministers or lower governments (e.g. a province or municipality).
TheMinistry of Justice and Securityis the main institution of Dutch law.
Areas of law
[edit]The domain of Dutch law is commonly divided in the following areas:
- Administrative law
- Civil law(including family law, inheritance law, contract law and commercial law)
- Criminal law
- Constitutional law(including laws on the structure of the state)
- European law
- International law
Civil law
[edit]Civil lawis the domain of law that regulates the everyday life of persons and other legal entities (such as corporations). The main code of Dutch civil law is theBurgerlijk Wetboek.
Nationality law
[edit]Criminal law
[edit]Criminal lawdeals with the prosecution andpunishment of criminal offenses.The main code is theWetboek van Strafrecht(nl).
Constitutional law
[edit]Constitutional lawinvolves itself with the constitution and the structure of the Netherlands. It involves powers of democratic institutions, the organization of elections and the divisions of powers between central and local governments. See also the article on theConstitution of the Netherlands.Following the practice of manycivil lawjurisdictions and in contrast to practice in nations such as theUnited States,the practice of Dutch constitutional law is that judges are not allowed to determine the constitutionality of laws created by the legislature (the government and parliament acting jointly).
Administrative law
[edit]Administrative lawis the area of law that regulates the operation of the various levels of government and the way persons and legal entities can appeal decisions of the government. The basics of Dutch administrative law were overhauled completely in 1994 with the advent of the new Basic Administrative Law (Dutch:Algemene Wet Bestuursrecht).
European law
[edit]European lawdeals with the influence of laws and regulations of the European Union in the laws of the Netherlands.