Netherlands · Area of law · Ambtenarenrecht
Civil service law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 116 published decisions carry the civil service law label (Ambtenarenrecht) in the Netherlands, 28% fewer than in 2024. They come from 7 of the 19 courts, and Rechtbank Den Haag accounts for 47% of them. Together they make up 0.2% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 2025116−28% over one year
- Share of all published decisions0.2%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions7 of 196 district courts, 0 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countRechtbank Den Haag54 decisions, 47% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the civil service law label, with the number of decisions, the share of all decisions with this label and the weight of this area in each court's own published decisions.
In 2025, 116 published decisions carry this label, 28% fewer than in 2024, from 7 of the 19 courts. Rechtbank Den Haag accounts for 54 (47%), followed by Centrale Raad van Beroep (51) and Rechtbank Noord-Holland (3). By level, district courts account for 56%, the highest courts for 44%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 54 | 47% | 0.3% |
| Centrale Raad van Beroep | Highest administrative court | 51 | 44% | 2.7% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 3 | 2.6% | under 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Overijssel | District court | 3 | 2.6% | 0.2% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 2 | 1.7% | under 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 2 | 1.7% | under 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Oost-Brabant | District court | 1 | 0.9% | under 0.1% |
Published decisions only: each court publishes a different share of its rulings, so these counts are not caseloads and cannot be compared as workloads.
Decisions year by year
This chart follows, year by year, the number of published decisions that carry the civil service law label. The volume measures what is published, not the number of cases brought in the same year.
Over the period, the number of published civil service law decisions went from 479 in 2013 to 116 in 2025 (−76%). The yearly count ranged from 116 in 2025 to 717 in 2016. These decisions were 0.2% of all published decisions in 2025 and 2% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 89 | 0 | 390 | 479 | 2% |
| 2014 | 82 | 0 | 405 | 487 | 2% |
| 2015 | 187 | 0 | 428 | 615 | 2.4% |
| 2016 | 152 | 0 | 565 | 717 | 2.8% |
| 2017 | 151 | 1 | 492 | 644 | 2.4% |
| 2018 | 169 | 3 | 426 | 598 | 2.2% |
| 2019 | 128 | 0 | 261 | 389 | 1.4% |
| 2020 | 234 | 0 | 261 | 495 | 1.4% |
| 2021 | 258 | 0 | 257 | 515 | 1.2% |
| 2022 | 141 | 0 | 211 | 352 | 0.8% |
| 2023 | 137 | 0 | 130 | 267 | 0.5% |
| 2024 | 84 | 1 | 77 | 162 | 0.3% |
| 2025 | 65 | 0 | 51 | 116 | 0.2% |
Series start in 2013, the first year of the current court map. The series reflect what courts publish and how decisions are labelled as well as what they decide.
Related areas
Each detailed area belongs to one of three broad groups of areas of law. The table sets civil service law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Civil service law decisions are 0.3% of the 38,907 published in 2025 under the administrative law label. Other detailed areas of the group include immigration law (16,353), tax law (5,173) and social security law (3,996).
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the group | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative law | 38,907 | – | +10% |
| Civil service law | 116 | 0.3% | −28% |
| Immigration law | 16,353 | 42% | +16% |
| Tax law | 5,173 | 13% | −3% |
| Social security law | 3,996 | 10% | −7% |
| Administrative procedure | 2,505 | 6.4% | +19% |
| Planning and environmental law | 2,001 | 5.1% | +28% |
| European administrative law | 3 | under 0.1% | – |
| Competition law (administrative) | 3 | under 0.1% | – |
A decision can carry several labels, so the detailed areas do not add up to the group.
Understanding these figures
What civil service law covers
Civil service law covers the legal position of public servants: appointment, pay, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary measures for staff of the State, municipalities, provinces and other public bodies. In 2025, 116 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Cases are heard first by a district court, and appeals go to the Central Appeals Tribunal. In 2025, published decisions with this label came from 7 of the 19 courts.
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. For civil service law, the published decisions of 2025 are those counted; they are not the number of cases brought.
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 these figures with care
The number of published civil service law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Rechtbank Den Haag alone published 47% of them, and the decisions come from 7 courts. The number of detailed area labels per published decision went from 0.46 in 2013 to 0.73 in 2025, so the evolution of a detailed area also reflects how often these labels are applied. 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 civil service law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 116 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the civil service law label, 28% fewer than in 2024. They come from 7 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 0.2% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish civil service law decisions?
In 2025, Rechtbank Den Haag published 54 of them, followed by Centrale Raad van Beroep (51) and Rechtbank Noord-Holland (3). District courts account for 56% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 0% and the highest courts for 44%.
Has the number of published civil service law decisions changed over time?
The number of published civil service law decisions went from 479 in 2013 to 116 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from 2% in 2013 to 0.2% in 2025.
What does civil service law cover?
Civil service law covers the legal position of public servants: appointment, pay, transfer, dismissal and disciplinary measures for staff of the State, municipalities, provinces and other public bodies.
Do these figures show how many civil service law cases are brought?
No. They count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, a selection of all rulings, and a case can produce several decisions. The counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.