Members of Stibbe’s Commercial Litigation practice group have participated in the public consultation of a draft bill to modernise and simplify the law of evidence in civil procedure. An overview of the draft proposal was provided previously on this blog by Petra Vos and Daan Barbiers. The main goal of the draft bill is to enhance truth seeking in civil … Read more
Introduction On 31 May 2018 Dutch Minister Dekker published a draft bill for consultation that primarily aims to modernise and simplify the law of evidence within Dutch civil procedure. The draft bill draws heavily on a report dated 10 April 2017 from the expert group on the modernisation of law of evidence. The Dutch Bar Association has since published an … Read more
Transactions are regularly structured through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). An SPV is often established at the end of the negotiations, just before signing the agreement. The other party to the agreement provides information and raises certain expectations during the negotiations. The individuals negotiating for the SPV do not necessarily become officers of the SPV once it is established. Examples of … Read more
1. Background: Statutory commercial interest Sixteen years ago, a provision on statutory interest in commercial agreements was introduced in article 6:119a Dutch Civil Code (DCC) to first implement Directive 2000/35/EC and subsequently Directive 2011/7/EU. These Directives were introduced to ensure compliance and prevent payment delays in commercial transactions. If a party to a commercial transaction exceeds a payment … Read more
On 8 March 2018, the bill concerning the Netherlands Commercial Court was passed by the House of Representatives. However, the court cannot start until the Senate has also approved the bill. The chairman of the Council for the Judiciary, Frits Bakker, has stated that the Council is pleased that the bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and … Read more
Introduction You think you have made clear arrangements about the exclusivity of your supplier’s services. The supplier has agreed to service your company only. You have even agreed unequivocal penalty clauses under which the supplier pays a penalty for every breach and another one for every day the breach continues. Unfortunately, the supplier breaches the exclusivity clause, forcing you to … Read more
Introduction On 26 January 2018, the Supreme Court delivered a judgment (ECLI:NL:HR:2018:108) about the interruption of the limitation period for a claim for damages. The key element in this case was whether the acts and statements of an insurer and a loss adjuster qualified as an acknowledgement of liability and, if so, whether this acknowledgement could be attributed to the … Read more
On 25 January 2018, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rendered a preliminary ruling in a case between Austrian citizen Maximilian Schrems and online social network Facebook. The ruling is important for two reasons. First, the ECJ approved a dynamic approach to the concept of ‘consumer’ under the Brussels I Regulation. Secondly, the ECJ clarified that the special consumer forum … Read more
How can a party terminate an agreement? With the exception of certain specific agreements (i.e. employment or rent), the Dutch Civil Code (DCC) does not provide rules on termination as such. Whether and under what conditions a party is entitled to terminate an agreement is determined by the agreement itself and the general standards of reasonableness and fairness (“redelijkheid en … Read more
1. Introduction The Amsterdam District Court requested a preliminary ruling with regard to turnover tax incurred as a consequence of a sale taking place by way of summary execution (Amsterdam District Court 5 July 2017, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2017:4726, answered by the Supreme Court on 15 December 2017, ECLI:NL:HR:2017:3149). 2. Facts Geddes & Gilmore Retail B.V. and Geddes & Gilmore Wholesale B.V. (together … Read more