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Courts of the Netherlands

A chain of civil and criminal courts ending at the Supreme Court, and separate top courts for administrative disputes. Courts cannot strike down Acts of Parliament.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Civil, criminal and tax courts

Supreme Court (Hoge Raad)
Courts of Appeal (gerechtshoven)
District Courts (rechtbanken)Include sectors for administrative and cantonal cases

Administrative courts

Council of State (Raad van State), Administrative Jurisdiction Division
Central Appeals Tribunal and Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal
Appeals travel up the arrows. Boxes with a heavier border are the top court of each track.

Worth knowing

  • Courts may not test Acts of Parliament against the Constitution, but may test them against treaties.

Compare Netherlands with another country →
Read the Netherlands profile in the Legal Families Atlas →

Sources

Other systems

African Court on Human and Peoples' RightsArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBangladeshBelgiumBrazilCanadaChileChinaColombiaCzechiaDenmarkEgyptEngland and WalesEuropean Court of Human RightsEuropean UnionFinlandFranceGermanyGhanaGreeceHong KongIndiaIndonesiaInter-American Court of Human RightsInternational Court of JusticeInternational Criminal CourtIranIrelandIsraelItalyJapanKenyaMalaysiaMexicoNew ZealandNigeriaNorwayPakistanPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSaudi ArabiaScotlandSingaporeSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanThailandTurkeyUnited Arab EmiratesUnited StatesVietnam

TheLawToKnow Tools’s court-structure diagrams are simplified on purpose and are not legal advice. Report a mistake.