Amsterdam to get English-language commercial court
A commercial court will be created in Amsterdam where international disputes can be litigated in English. The Lower House has approved this decision yesterday. The court will be located in the court building at the IJdok.
Cases can only be brought before the English-language court with the consent of all parties involved. Because of the additional costs involved, higher court fees will apply.
MPs have asked whether Dutch judges are sufficiently familiar with legal English. The government said it did not expect this to be a problem: «Within the legal sector, there are people with a very good command of the English language: (near) native speakers, arbiters with experience in international arbitration, judges who have been solicitors in London, as well as judges who have worked for Anglo-Saxon law firms.»
The new institution is not unique. Frisian can be spoken in some courts in the North of the Netherlands, and English and Papiamento in Dutch courts in the Caribbean.