Netherlands · Central Appeals Tribunal
Centrale Raad van Beroep: published decisions
In 2025, Centrale Raad van Beroep (Central Appeals Tribunal) published 1,900 decisions on rechtspraak.nl, 22% fewer than in 2024. That is 3% of the 64,124 decisions published by the 19 courts covered here. Of the court's decisions, each carries the administrative-law label. These counts describe published case law, not the court's caseload.
- Published decisions in 20251,900−22% over one year
- Share of the Dutch total3%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Administrative law100%of its decisions; civil law: 0%
- Largest detailed areaSocial security law1,849 decisions, 97% of the court's total
Decisions year by year
The chart follows the number of decisions of Centrale Raad van Beroep published on rechtspraak.nl, year by year since 2013, the first year of the current court map. The count measures what is published, not the number of cases the court handled.
In 2025, Centrale Raad van Beroep published 1,900 decisions, 22% fewer than in 2024. This is 3% of the 64,124 decisions published by the 19 courts, against 17% in 2013. Over the period, the court's yearly count of published decisions went from 4,013 in 2013 to 1,900 in 2025 (−53%). The yearly count ranged from 1,900 in 2025 to 4,639 in 2016.
| Year | Decisions | Change | Share of the 19 courts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 4,013 | – | 17% |
| 2014 | 4,086 | +2% | 17% |
| 2015 | 4,554 | +11% | 18% |
| 2016 | 4,639 | +2% | 18% |
| 2017 | 3,995 | −14% | 15% |
| 2018 | 3,803 | −5% | 14% |
| 2019 | 3,931 | +3% | 14% |
| 2020 | 3,507 | −11% | 10% |
| 2021 | 3,331 | −5% | 8.1% |
| 2022 | 2,846 | −15% | 6.5% |
| 2023 | 2,524 | −11% | 4.9% |
| 2024 | 2,435 | −4% | 4.2% |
| 2025 | 1,900 | −22% | 3% |
Published decisions only: the series reflects what the court publishes as well as what it decides. Series start in 2013, the first year of the current court map.
Areas of law
Each decision published on rechtspraak.nl carries area-of-law labels: broad groups (administrative law, civil law, public international law) and detailed areas. The table counts the decisions of Centrale Raad van Beroep that carry each label in 2025. A decision can carry several labels and some carry only a broad one, so the detailed areas do not add up to their group.
Of the 1,900 decisions published in 2025, each carries the administrative-law label. Among the detailed areas, social security law (1,849, 97%) and civil service law (51, 2.7%) appear most often. Decisions with the social security law label numbered 1,849, 22% fewer than in 2024; they are 46% of the 3,996 published decisions with this label across the 19 courts.
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the court | Change | Share of all decisions with this label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative law | 1,900 | 100% | −22% | 4.9% |
| Social security law | 1,849 | 97% | −22% | 46% |
| Civil service law | 51 | 2.7% | −34% | 44% |
See also Social security law Civil service law
A decision can carry several area labels and some carry only a broad one: counts of different areas cannot be added together.
Place in the court system
The Central Appeals Tribunal is the highest court for social security and civil service cases. Its published decisions are set beside those of the other highest courts below.
It hears appeals against rulings of the district courts in social security, social assistance and civil service cases. Its rulings cannot be appealed to another Dutch court. In 2025, the 4 highest courts published 9,122 decisions in all, of which 1,900 by Centrale Raad van Beroep (21%).
| Court | Decisions 2025 | Share of the highest courts | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raad van State | 5,549 | 61% | +7% |
| Centrale Raad van Beroep | 1,900 | 21% | −22% |
| Hoge Raad | 985 | 11% | −3% |
| College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven | 688 | 7.5% | −28% |
See also Raad van State Hoge Raad College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven Netherlands overview
Published decisions only: each court publishes a different share of its rulings, so these counts are not caseloads and cannot be compared as workloads.
Understanding these figures
What the Central Appeals Tribunal does
The Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep) is the highest court for social security, social assistance and civil service cases. It mostly hears appeals against rulings of the district courts. In 2025, Centrale Raad van Beroep published 1,900 decisions; of these, each carries the administrative-law label.
A published selection
The figures count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, the website of the Dutch judiciary, where each decision carries a European Case Law Identifier (ECLI). Courts publish only part of their rulings, and the share published differs from one court to another, from one area of law to another and from one year to the next. The 1,900 decisions counted for Centrale Raad van Beroep in 2025 are those published; this is not a count of all the cases the court handled.
ECLI numbers and the court code
An ECLI number has the form ECLI:NL:<court code>:<year>:<number>. The decisions of Centrale Raad van Beroep carry the court code CRVB, so their numbers begin ECLI:NL:CRVB, followed by the year and a sequence number. With this number, any published decision of the court can be found on rechtspraak.nl.
How areas of law are labelled
Each published decision carries one or more area-of-law labels. There are three broad groups, administrative law, civil law and public international law, and, within them, detailed areas such as tax law or family law. A decision can carry several labels, and some carry only a broad one, so the detailed areas do not add up to their group and counts for different areas cannot be added together.
Reading this court's figures with care
About 97% of the decisions published by Centrale Raad van Beroep in 2025 carry the social security law label, so its count mainly reflects that field. The count also depends on what the court publishes: a change from one year to the next may reflect a change in publication as well as in the court's work. The data hold counts only, with no outcome and no time to judgment, and no statistic can predict the outcome of a particular case.
Frequently asked questions
How many decisions did Centrale Raad van Beroep publish in 2025?
Centrale Raad van Beroep (Central Appeals Tribunal) published 1,900 decisions on rechtspraak.nl in 2025, against 2,435 in 2024. Published decisions are a selection of all rulings, so this is not the number of cases the court handled.
Which areas of law do the published decisions of Centrale Raad van Beroep cover?
Of its published decisions, each carries the administrative-law label. The most frequent detailed areas are social security law (1,849) and civil service law (51).
What share of the published Dutch decisions comes from Centrale Raad van Beroep?
3% of the 64,124 decisions published by the 19 courts covered here in 2025, against 17% in 2013.
Does this count every case handled by Centrale Raad van Beroep?
No. The figures count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, a selection of all rulings. They do not measure the court's caseload.
Can the rulings of Centrale Raad van Beroep be appealed?
No. It is one of the highest courts in its field and its rulings cannot be appealed to another Dutch court.