On 11 December 2018 the Dutch Senate voted to create the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC District Court and NCC Court of Appeal) as part of the Amsterdam courts.

The NCC legislative process is now close to completion.

The final step is for the Minister of Justice and Security to issue a decree for the NCC legislation to enter into force. A decision is expected soon.
In addition, the eNCC upload/download system has completed testing and is ready to go. However, technical and administrative discussions are ongoing on how and when to fully implement it.

The KEI legislation has been delayed and will therefore not apply to proceedings before the NCC until further notice. So the Civil Procedure Code rules will be as they are now, for the time being.

Until further notice a few limited amendments to the NCC Rules will apply in view of the KEI legislation delay. See the addendum (attachment) to find out what these changes are.

In the last 3 months the NCC Project Team has expanded its efforts to inform practitioners about NCC and dispute resolution in complex international matters:

• 24-26 September: meetings with New York law firms
• 8-12 October: our stand at the IBA Annual Conference in Rome
• 11 October: presentations to the Dutch General Counsel Network
• 22 November 2018: the IPBA Conference “International Commercial Courts in Various European Jurisdictions & in Singapore” in Brussels

Arbitration and court litigation are, obviously, options that practitioners should and do consider as they think about how to deal with international business disputes.

Arbitration may offer real advantages. But sometimes proceedings are time-consuming, and there’s a price tag. Time and cost may be an issue.

Check the fact sheet (attachment) to see how NCC may be an alternative to arbitration. And what role NCC could play in enforcing or setting aside arbitral awards.

If you have any questions, please contact us at NCC@rechtspraak.nl