NCJ Number
79830
Journal
Justitiele verkenningen Issue: 3 Dated: (1978) Pages: 4-17
Date Published
1978
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The role of the laity in both civil and criminal court proceedings in the Netherlands is discussed.
Abstract
Although most cases in the Netherlands are tried by professional judges, lay judges are often used in cases requiring special expertise or representation of particular groups. Lay participation in trying civil cases has been constitutionally possible since 1922. Lay judges may assist in hearing cases regarding property disputes and civil rights claims; the purpose is to give professional judges insight into the views of the general populace. Similar provision is made for participation of the laity in criminal cases. However, trial by a lay jury without a professional judge is impossible. In practice, lay participation in civil matters is most common in courts for lend-lease disputes, nurserymen's courts, courts for matters relating to business, cases of arbitration and binding recommendations, and commissions dealing with disputes arising from consumer complaints. In the area of administrative law, lay members are also active on the Board of Trade and Industry, the Labor Board, including the Civil Service Commission, a variety of courts or commissions ranging from the insurance court to the Academic Commission and the Central Cultural and Technical Commission, the Rent Advisory Commission, and the Commission for Dismissal from Work. In the practice of criminal law, participation of the laity in the form of jury trials is unknown. However, lay persons do take an active role in matters relating to the execution of sentences. For example, the special penitentiary court of Arnhem, which has two lay experts, deals with appeals for pardon and inmates' rights. Likewise, two of the three members of commissions to hear complaints of prisoners are members of the laity. Lay judges participate in the proceedings of military courts at both the district and the high court levels.