Introduction

• Author: Vegter, Marlies
• Pages: 5-6

5

1 Introduction

1.1 Basic structure of the national legal system

The Netherlands i s a civil -law country. Its laws are written. The role of case law is small

in theory, but in practice it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without

taking into account the relevant case law. The primary law-maki ng body is formed by the

Dutch Parliament in cooperation wit h the Government. When operati ng jointly to cr eate

laws, they are commonly referred to as the legislature.

The Dutch court system consists of various types of courts. At first instance, judgments

are rendered by what a re simply called ‘the courts’ (the ordinary courts). Appeals arising

from the judgments of the (ordinary) courts can be brought before the appeal courts. At

the t op of the hierarchy is the Dut ch Suprem e Court (Hoge Raad). Within the courts a

distinction is made between criminal law, civil law and administrative law . In addition,

there are specific courts for administrative cases on appeal from the ordinary courts. These

courts ar e the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van B eroep) a nd th e Council of

State, Administrative Jurisdiction Division (Raad van State, Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak).

1.2 List of main legislation transposing and implementing the directives

- Act on the Institute for Human Rights.1 This Act has partly been enacted to

implement Resolution A/RES/48/134 of the Gen eral Assembly of the United Nations

of 20 December 1993 on national institutes for the promotion and protection of

human rights; Recommendation R (97) 14 of the Committee of Ministers of the

Council of Europe of 30 September 1997 on the establishment of independent

national human rights bodies; Directive 2000/43/EC on equal treatment on the basis

of race or ethnic origin; Directive 2004/113/ EC on equal treatment of men and

women in the access to and supply of goods and services; and Directive 2006/54/EG

on equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation.

- General Equal Treatment Act (GETA) .2 The GETA aims to implement Article 1 of the

Dutch Constitution (the principle of equal treatment). Furthermore, parts of the GETA

aim to implement EU law. Article 1a on harassment, for example, transposes

Directive 2004/113; Article 6a on membership of employers’ organisations and trade

unions transposes (in part) Directive 2000/78; Arti cle 7a on social protection aims

to implement the Directive on Race/ethnic origin (2000/43); A rticle 8a on

victimisation transposes Di rective 2000/78 ; a nd Articl e 10 on the burden of proo f

also aims to implement Directive 2000/78.

- Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women (ETA).3 This Act was adopted in order to

transpose Directive 76/207 on equal treatment of men and women. In 2006 the ETA

was modified in order to transpose Directive 2002/73/EC.

- Civil Code, Article 7:646 (prohibiting sex discrimination in employment relationships)

and Article 7:670(2) (prohibiting the termin ation of the employment relat ionship

during pregnancy, maternity leave and six weeks after resuming work). Article 7:646

was adopted in order to transpose Directive 76 /207 and was later revised in order

to transpose Directive 2002/73.

1.3 Sources of law

The main sources of gender equality law in the Netherlands are:

- The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women

(CEDAW). CEDAW does not have direct effect as a whole, but courts have ruled that

1 Netherlands, Act on the Institute for Human Rights (Wet College Rechten voor de Mens), 2012 Stb. 2011,

573.

2 Netherlands, General Equal Treatment Act (Algemene Wet Gelijke Behandeling), 1994 Stb. 1994, 230.

3 Netherlands, Act on Equal Treatment of Men and Women (Wet Gelijke Behandeling van mannen en

vrouwen), 1980 Stb. 1980, 86.