Judiciary Organisation Act

Chapter 2 Administration of justice

Part 5 The Supreme Court

Article 72 Composition of the Supreme Court
- 1. The Supreme Court must consist of a president, a maximum of seven vice-presidents, a maximum of thirty justices and a maximum of fifteen justices extraordinary.
- 2. The justices extraordinary serve as justices if called upon to do so by the president.
- 3. A clerk of the court/registrar must be appointed at the Supreme Court.
- 4. Court legal assistants may be appointed at the Supreme Court.
- 5. For the purposes of paragraph 1 the president, vice-presidents and justices of the Supreme Court who have been granted special unpaid leave must be disregarded for the term of that leave and for a maximum of one year thereafter.
- 6. For the purposes of paragraph 1, judicial officers who have been appointed on a part-time basis are counted on the basis of the fraction represented by their working hours.

Article 73 Replacement in the absence of the president
- 1. A vice-president will deputise for the president if he is sick or otherwise unable to attend.
- 2. In the absence of a deputy clerk of the court/registrar, an acting clerk of the court/registrar will deputise for the clerk of the court/registrar if he is sick or otherwise unable to attend.
- 3. The acting clerks of the court/registrars are appointed by Our Minister on the recommendation of the Supreme Court. Before taking up their appointment, they take an oath or make an affirmation in the presence of the president of the Supreme Court. The wording of the oath or affirmation is adopted – and further rules about their swearing-in may be laid down – by or pursuant to order in council. They receive a fee set in accordance with rules to be laid down by or pursuant to order in council.
- 4. The appointment of an acting clerk of the court/registrar is terminated at his request by Our Minister. Our Minister must give notice of this to the president of the Supreme Court.
- 5. Our Minister may terminate the employment of an acting clerk of the court/registrar:
a) if he has not performed the duties of a clerk of the court/registrar for a period of at least three years
b) on the ground of unsuitability, other than on account of ill-health, or
c) for an act or omission that should not be committed by a person working for the Supreme Court.

Article 74 Duty to inform the Government
The Supreme Court must give an opinion or provide information if requested by the government.

Article 75 Set op of full-bench and single-judge divisions
- 1. The Supreme Court must set up, on the proposal of the president, one or more full-bench divisions and, in the cases prescribed by law, one or more single-judge divisions and must determine their composition.
- 2. Save for the exceptions provided for by law, cases are decided in the Supreme Court by five members of a full-bench division, one of whom acts as presiding justice.
- 3. The presiding justice of a full-bench division may provide that a case that he deems suitable for this purpose is heard and decided by three members of that division. If the case is deemed by one of these members to be unsuitable for hearing and decision by three members, the hearing must be continued by five members.
- 4. The Supreme Court must, on the proposal of the president, adopt a set of regulations, laying down the organisation into divisions.
- 5. The regulations must be published in the Government Gazette.

Article 76 Competence to rule on offences committed by Ministers, State Secretaries and Members of Parliament
- 1. The Supreme Court takes cognizance at both first and last instance of serious and minor public office offences committed by members of the States General, ministers and state secretaries.
- 2. Serious and minor public office offences include criminal offences committed in one of the aggravating circumstances referred to in article 44 of the Criminal Code.
- 3. In the cases referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the Supreme Court also has jurisdiction to hear claims by an injured party for costs and damages.
- 4. The cases referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 are heard by ten justices of the Supreme Court. In the event of a tied vote, judgment must be given in favour of the defendant.

Article 77 Competence in case of disputes between district courts and/or courts of appeal
- 1. The Supreme Court takes cognizance at both first and last instance of jurisdictional disputes between:
a) district courts, unless Article 61 is applicable;
b) courts of appeal;
c) a court of appeal and a district court;
d) a court belonging to the judiciary and a court not belonging to the judiciary;
e) administrative courts, unless another administrative court has jurisdiction in this matter.
- 2. If a jurisdictional dispute has arisen between the Supreme Court and another court referred to in paragraph 1, the division of the Supreme Court that decides the case must be composed as far as possible of justices who have no prior knowledge of the case.

Article 78 Appeal in cassation
- 1. The Supreme Court takes cognizance of appeals in cassation against the acts, judgments and orders of the courts of appeal and the district courts instituted either by a party or, in the interests of the uniform application of the law, by the procurator general at the Supreme Court.
- 2. Paragraph 1 does not apply to the acts and rulings of the district courts in cases of which they take cognizance as administrative courts.
- 3. Paragraph 1 does not apply to acts and decisions either of the district courts or of the court of appeal in Leeuwarden in cases concerning the Traffic Regulations (Administrative Enforcement) Act, subject to the proviso that the Supreme Court will take cognizance of an application by the procurator general for cassation in the interests of the uniform application of the law.
- 4. The Supreme Court takes cognizance of appeals in cassation against rulings of the administrative courts in so far as this is provided for by statute.
- 5. A party may not institute an appeal in cassation if another ordinary legal remedy is or was available to him.
- 6. Appeal in cassation may not be instituted in the interests of the uniform application of the law if an ordinary legal remedy is available to the parties. Such appeal does not prejudice the rights obtained by the parties.

Article 79 Grounds for cassation: defiance of procedural rules or infringement of national law
- 1. The Supreme Court sets aside acts, judgments and orders:
a) on account of a procedural defect in so far as nullity is the express consequence of such defect or such nullity results from the nature of the procedural defect;
b) on account of an infringement of the law, with the exception of the law of foreign states.
- 2. Facts from which the applicability or otherwise of a rule of customary law is inferred are assumed, in so far as they require proof, to have been established only on the basis of the disputed decision.

Article 80 Immediate appeal in cassation against a judgement of the Subdistrict Court
- 1. A judgment or an order of a limited jurisdiction judge (Subdistrict Court) in a civil case against which no appeal lies or lay may be the subject of an appeal in cassation by a party only on one of the following grounds:
a) the judgment or order does not include the grounds for the decision;
b) the judgment or, in so far as required by law, the order was not given in public;
c) the judge lacked jurisdiction; or
d) the judge exceeded his powers.
- 2. Save for cassation allowed in the interest of the uniform application of the law, a judgment of a limited jurisdiction judge in a criminal case may not be set aside for a procedural defect other than that:
a) the judgment does not contain the charge or, in the case of a judicial finding of fact, the charge and the grounds on which the judgment is based;
b) the decision was not made on the basis of the charge;
c) a decision as referred to in article 358, paragraph 3, of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not given or the reasons for this decision were not given; or
d) the judgment was not given in public.

Article 81 Sometimes no duty to substantiate a rejecting decision
If the Supreme Court considers that a complaint that has been filed cannot result in cassation and does not warrant the answering of questions of law in the interests of the uniform application of the law or the development of the law, it may confine itself to this consideration when stating the grounds for its decision.

Article 82 Swearing in of officials
- 1. The Supreme Court is responsible for swearing in officials who have to be sworn in by or pursuant to statute.
- 2. The function referred in paragraph 1 is performed by the president of the Supreme Court. The swearing in occurs on the application of the procurator general.

Article 83 Duty of the lower courts to provide the Supreme Court with information
The district courts, courts of appeal and presidents must provide information when this is considered necessary by the Supreme Court for the consideration of a case.

Article 83a [repealed on 1-1-2002]