The Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC), a specialist English-language court for international commercial disputes, meets the high expectations expressed by lawyers when initiating proceedings. This is one of the conclusions of the WODC study.

The NCC consists of a chamber of the Amsterdam District Court and a chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (Netherlands Commercial Court of Appeal, NCCA). The NCC was established in 2019 to address the growing need for businesses to be able to litigate international commercial disputes in the Netherlands in English. The NCC employs judges and law clerks with specific expertise and experience from all over the Netherlands. At its inception, it was agreed to take a ten year period to allow these international chambers to fully develop and take on their intended role within the judiciary system. The research published by the WODC today provides an assessment of this development so-far.

The research shows that lawyers are positive about the costs, flexibility, speed, quality of judgments, efficiency, use of English in the proceedings, and expertise of the judges. The report additionally shows that from 2024 onwards, the NCC has been operating virtually budget neutral in terms of personnel costs, despite the fact that far fewer cases have been filed than initially expected. It is evident from the report that improvements can be made in the provision of information and outreach to increase awareness of the NCC among Dutch and foreign in-house counsel. Finally, it follows from the report that it would be advisable to take another look at the underlying legislation.  In the coming period, the NCC will review which areas for improvement can be addressed following the WODC's interim evaluation.

Click here for more detailed information about the study's findings.