Introduction
Author | Karin de Vries |
Pages | 12-14 |
12
INTRODUCTION
The national legal system
In the Netherlands, central Government is the only level of government that passes anti-
discrimination or equal treatment legislation. The principles of equality and non-
discrimination are covered by various areas of the law. Of importance are the Constitution,
public and private employment law, criminal law and specific statutory equal treatment
acts. Moreover, since the Dutch constitutional system adheres to a ‘monist theory’ of
international law, international equality guarantees are automatically applicable in the
national legal system and take precedence over national legislation, provided that they are
sufficiently clear and precise to be justiciable in concrete cases (cf. Articles 93 and 94of
the Constitution). Private employment contracts are regulated by Book 7 of the Civil Code
(Burgerlijk Wetboek), which contains equal treatment provisions, and by specific statutory
equal treatment acts. Furthermore, regulation may occur through Collective Labour
Agreements at the level of the sector or individual employer. For civil servants, a law was
adopted to make their employment subject to the same rules as private sector
employment, with the exception of certain specific categories including judges and military
personnel.15 The main equality body is the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (NIHR)
(College voor deRechten van de Mens), which has a section that deals with complaints
about unequal treatment.
List of main legislation transposing and implementing the directives
-Article 1 of the Constitution (Grondwet) enshrines a constitutional equality and non-
discrimination guarantee.
-International non-discrimination provisions (e.g. Article 26 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 14 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)) can be directly applied in court proceedings.
Sometimes provisions from the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the UN Convention on the Rights of People
with Disabilities (CRPD) or the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) are also called upon before Dutch courts.
The Netherlands ratified the CRPD on 14 June 2016.
-EU Treaty provisions and directives can be directly applied under the normal
conditions for applicability of EU Law in the Member States.
-The Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht) includes specific provisions criminalising
discriminatory speech and publications (Articles 137d-137f) and discriminatory acts
in the performance of an individual’s job or enterprise (Articles 137g and 429quater).
Discrimination is defined in Article 90quater, in line with Article 1 of the UN ICERD
and therefore different from the definition in the directives. In addition, Article 137c
forbids insulting groups of people because of their race, religion/belief or homo-
/heterosexual orientation.16
-The Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) includes specific articles prohibiting sex
discrimination and discrimination in relation to the duration of employment contracts
and whether they are permanentor fixed-term contracts (Articles 7:646-7:649).
Employers are also liable if they fail to guarantee safe working conditions. This
includes an environment free from discrimination and (sexual) harassment (Article
7:658).
15 Act on the regularisation of the legal status of civil servants (Wet normalisering rechtspositie ambtenaren),
Staatsblad 2017, 123. The Act will enter into force on 1 January 2020. The exempted categories are listed in
Article 3 Civil Servants Act (Ambtenarenwet 2017).
16 The term ‘homosexual or heterosexual orientation’ was used instead of the more ordinary term ‘sexual
orientation’ to make clear that it does not include paedophile orientation. To avoid confusion in this report
‘sexual orientation’ is used throughout unless otherwise indicated, as this is what the Dutch law intends to
cover.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeUnlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations

Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
