You can go to the administrative court or the civil court to ask the government to give you compensation if the decision is:

• lawful; then you can get 'nadeelcompensatie' (compensation for loss resulting from administrative acts)
• unlawful; then you can get compensation

The next part of this page is only about getting compensation because of an unlawful decision. You may need a lawyer, depending on the kind of case.

If you have problems because of an administrative body’s unlawful decision, you must first ask the administrative body for compensation. If the administrative body does not give you compensation, or if they do not respond within 8 weeks, you can ask the judge to award compensation.

You can start this procedure both while you are appealing against the decision that caused you problems and after your appeal has ended.

You will need to pay for the appeal procedure to get compensation from the government. You pay a fee so that the judge will hear the case: court fees. You will also need to pay for a lawyer and a mediator if you want them.

The appeal procedure to get compensation from the government takes at least 3 months. Some cases can take 1 year.