News item | 28-02-2025 | 09:00
From 1 March 2025, litigants can go to the outdoor judge, The Hague, Overijssel, Rotterdam and Zeeland-West-Brabant for certain cases. With these proceedings, the case law offers litigants the opportunity to submit a dispute about a sum of money to the court in a simple way, and the counterparty the possibility to defend easily. The procedure has been made legal and financially possible by State Secretary for Legal Protection Teun Struycken and Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Eddy van Hijum. In the so -called ‘out of the rights’, the judge looks at the parties during an oral hearing of the case whether they can find a solution together. If that fails, the judge will make a decision.
State Secretary Struycken: “The procedure to start a case to get your rights has a lot of legal, practical and financial thresholds. The ruler lowers many of these thresholds, such as complicated paperwork and expenses. As a result, a person seeking justice may be a procedure without the need for specific knowledge and skills or legal assistance. In this way we increase legal protection and access to law. Especially for the people for whom the road is usually more difficult to find. “
Minister Van Hijum: “Too often employers do not meet financial agreements with labor migrants, flex workers and self -employed people. I am glad that we remove a number of thresholds with the out of law, making it easier to go to court. In this way labor migrants get to which they are entitled. In addition, we are taking another important step in breaking the revenue model of rogue employment agencies with the out of -law. “
Type
The ruler is intended for cantonal matters on claims of employees on the basis of an employment contract and for money claims up to an amount of € 5,000 of a natural person. For cantonal cases, the assistance of a lawyer is not mandatory. In the claims based on an employment contract, the experimental procedure is mainly focused on the vulnerable position of employees, such as labor migrants and flex workers. They are often in a dependent and less strong position compared to an employer. In addition, they do not always find their way to court and it can be difficult for them to draw up legal documents. Partly because they control the Dutch language less often. The expectation is that this procedure will be followed in around 400 cases per year.
Procedure
The procedure for the out of law will exist in addition to the normal procedure. The party that starts the case – usually the employee, labor migrant or flex worker – determines which of the two procedures will be followed. The defendant must follow this choice. The procedure for the out of law differs on a number of points from the normal procedure at the subdistrict court judge. A procedure can be started at the out of -law or a defense is used via a simple form, which can also be submitted digitally. No bailiff is needed to start a case and no legal documents need to be drawn up. During the procedure, the parties are easily informed by the court about the course of the case and they can ask the court in a low -threshold manner. Litters who are not powerful of the Dutch language can call in an interpreter free of charge via the courts to assist them during the oral treatment.
Another important difference with the normal procedure is that oral treatment takes place in every case. The parties receive an explanation of the importance of oral treatment and receive a reminder shortly before treatment. This is expected to lead to a faster procedure and increases the possibility of finding a solution during oral treatment. If the parties do not come out of it and a statement is needed, it will be done during or as soon as possible after the oral treatment.
Four locations
The procedure of the out of law is available in the courts of The Hague, Overijssel, Rotterdam and Zeeland-West-Brabant. These courts have previously gained experience and knowledge with more accessible procedures, such as the Hague district judge, the Overijssel consultation judge and the Rotterdam and Zeeland Rechterers. In addition, these are courts in regions where relatively many labor migrants live or work.
Duration and evaluation
The ruler is an experiment that will last 3 years and that will be evaluated during the term. Based on the evaluation, it is considered whether it is desirable to make the procedure or elements from this definitively possible. The ruler of the ruler stems from earlier pilots of the case law to make procedures more accessible and easier. This is also the first experiment in the context of the Temporary Experiments Act, which makes it possible to temporarily deviate from legal procedures and preconditions. This law is intended to stimulate innovation in case law.
Inform justeges
Litters are informed in many ways about the procedure, for example through flyers and letters. This information will in any case be available in Dutch and English. Furthermore, the Judiciary on Jechtspraak.nl will place information for the parties. Through Work in NL points, labor migrants can get information and advice about their rights and obligations in an accessible way. Where these points are located can be found on workinnl.nl. There they are also pointed out of the possibility of the out of law. Other social partners and organizations that focus on employment law will also provide information, such as the Legal Counter. The Legal Counter offers first -line legal aid to people with a low income in all areas of law. In addition, in South Holland and Noord-Brabant, among others, they provide vulnerable labor migrants and support in their own language, such as Polish, Romanian, and Bulgarian.