What does a descriptive rule describe?
Reality as it is.
How can a descriptive claim be checked?
Through empirical research.
What does a prescriptive rule state?
How people ought to behave in a desirable society.
What distinguishes legal rules from moral, religious, and etiquette rules?
The government can enforce legal rules and impose consequences for violations.
What is a norm?
A rule of conduct intended to protect or achieve a value.
Which five sources are officially recognized as sources of law?
Legislation, treaties, customary law, legal principles, and case law.
Which sources of law are written law?
Legislation and treaties.
Which sources of law are unwritten law?
Customary law, legal principles, and case law.
What is positive law?
Law created by human beings through recognized legal sources.
In a direct democracy, who votes on laws?
Citizens vote themselves.
Which country does the course give as an example of direct democracy?
Switzerland.
How do citizens participate in a representative democracy?
They elect representatives instead of voting directly on each law.
What must a minister or state secretary do after losing either chamber’s confidence?
Offer their resignation to the King.
Which three functions does the trias politica divide state power into?
Making laws, implementing laws, and adjudicating legal disputes.
What does the legality principle require for government interference in citizens’ lives?
A basis in legal authority.
What do classical fundamental rights protect individuals from?
Interference.
What do social fundamental rights concern?
Assistance or services, such as support benefits or a clean environment.
What does legal subjectivity enable in private law?
Holding subjective rights and performing legal acts.
What distinguishes a natural person from a legal person?
A natural person is a human being; a legal person is an organization treated by law as a person.
How do public authorities exercise public powers?
Unilaterally.
What principles must public authorities respect when exercising public powers?
The legality principle, fundamental rights, and general principles of proper administration.
What interests may public authorities and private actors pursue?
Public authorities serve the public interest; private actors may pursue private interests.
Which civil claims may be assigned to the cantonal judge?
Claims up to €25,000 and certain claims arising from rental, employment, or consumer-purchase agreements.
What can an appeal to a court of appeal reassess?
Both facts and law.
What does cassation review instead of re-examining established facts?
Legal errors or procedural defects.
Who has exclusive authority to initiate prosecution in criminal cases?
The Public Prosecution Service.
Which right does Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights protect?
The right to a fair trial.
Which author and year does the course cite for recognizing access to court?
Golder, 1975.
Which tribunal quality is included among the course’s fair-trial guarantees?
Independence and impartiality.
What does a fair hearing require under the course’s fair-trial guarantees?
Both sides must be heard.
What does subjective impartiality concern?
A judge’s actual personal bias.
What does the opportuniteitsbeginsel require the Public Prosecution Service to assess before prosecution?
Whether prosecution serves the public interest.
When does the presumption of innocence allow a person to be treated as guilty?
Only after conviction by a court.
What does the nemo tenetur principle protect a suspect from being compelled to provide?
Evidence against themselves.
What right to refuse evidence does the nemo tenetur principle include?
The right to remain silent.
What facts may a civil judge accept as true, unlike a criminal judge investigating material truth?
Facts on which the parties agree.
What identifies a statute in the formal sense?
The lawmaking procedure.
What identifies a statute in the material sense?
It is an official measure containing generally binding rules.
What is the first stage of the ordinary formal-law procedure?
A government bill.
What follows a government bill in the ordinary formal-law procedure?
Council of State advice and House of Representatives debate, with possible amendment.
Which legal sources head the hierarchy presented in the course?
Treaties and EU law.
Which legal sources follow treaties and EU law in the course’s hierarchy?
The Charter for the Kingdom, the Constitution, formal statutes, orders in council, ministerial regulations, and provincial and municipal regulations.
Which article bars Dutch courts from reviewing formal statutes against the Constitution?
Article 120.
What happens under Article 94 when a domestic statutory provision conflicts with a directly binding treaty provision?
The domestic provision is not applied.
Under Article 91, whose prior approval is required before the Kingdom is bound by a treaty?
The States General’s approval.
What stages make up the treaty process described?
International negotiation and signing, national approval, ratification or consent, and publication.
What distinguishes a monist legal system from a dualist one?
Monism combines international and domestic law in one legal order; dualism separates them and requires treaty rules to be transformed into domestic law.
What does the Court of Justice of the European Union interpret?
EU law.
Which cases does the European Court of Human Rights hear?
Cases under the European Convention on Human Rights.
How can EU law affect individuals independently of national legislation?
It can create rights and obligations for them.
What approach do EU member states follow toward EU law?
A monist approach.
What is a value within a legal system?
Something considered important, such as equality or legal certainty.
What are the main characteristics of customary law?
It consists of common social practices, can supplement legislation, and may be difficult to prove.
What do legal principles express, and what are two examples?
They express essential legal-system values, such as equality before the law and proportionality.
What is natural law?
Fundamental principles of justice that apply regardless of human recognition.
What is a referendum?
A direct vote for or against a particular law.
Which Dutch institutions are representative bodies?
The States General, provincial states, and municipal councils.
What does legislating create?
General rules.
What does administration do?
It takes concrete action to implement laws.
What do checks and balances allow state powers to do?
Control one another or share certain powers.
What distinguishes absolute from relative fundamental rights?
Absolute rights allow no exceptions; relative rights may be subject to government-made exceptions.
What does separate legal personality separate from a legal person's assets?
The assets of its directors.
What happens to a legal person's obligations when its directors change?
They continue.
Which three types of legal persons does the course identify?
Private-law legal persons, churches, and public-law legal persons.
Where may parties litigate without a lawyer in the district court?
In the cantonal division.
What is the first step in the described administrative-law route?
Objecting to the administrative body.
Where does a person appeal after objecting in the described administrative-law route?
To the district court.
Where may a person appeal further after the district court in the described administrative-law route?
To the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State or another competent higher court.
What is the generally reasonable trial period stated in the course?
Two years.
How much additional time does the course allow for appeal, cassation, and European Court proceedings?
Two years for appeal, two for cassation, and one for European Court proceedings.
Where do Dutch judges deliberate privately?
In the council chamber.
Under Article 12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, what can an interested party challenge?
A decision not to prosecute, by complaining to the court of appeal.
What does ne bis in idem prohibit for the same matter?
Prosecuting and punishing a person twice.
What exceptional review does the course note may harm a convicted person?
Review for exceptionally serious intentional offences resulting in death.
Who introduces an initiative bill?
The House of Representatives.
What stages follow introduction of an initiative bill?
Council of State advice, House consideration, Senate approval or rejection, and royal assent.
What is delegation of legislative power?
An authorized rulemaker empowering a lower body to issue further rules on details.
Which bodies have rulemaking powers under the cited legal provisions?
The government, provincial states, municipal councils, and water-authority boards.
When do treaty provisions have direct effect?
When they are sufficiently unconditional and precise, with context also relevant.
When is treaty approval tacit in the Netherlands?
When a treaty is presented to the States General without a request for express approval.
Which routes involving European courts are listed by the course?
Individual applications by victims, interstate cases, challenges to EU decisions, infringement proceedings, and preliminary references.
When must a national court refer an EU-law question to the Court of Justice?
When it is the highest national court and the question concerns an unresolved point of EU law.
Answer 36 questions on Introduction to Dutch Law.
1. Which kind of claim describes reality as it is and can be checked through empirical research?
2. A community debates how people ought to behave in a desirable society. What kind of rule is it discussing?
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