Netherlands · Area of law · Ondernemingsrecht
Company law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 326 published decisions carry the company law label (Ondernemingsrecht) in the Netherlands, 2% fewer than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts, and Gerechtshof Amsterdam accounts for 46% of them. Together they make up 0.5% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 2025326−2% over one year
- Share of all published decisions0.5%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions12 of 198 district courts, 3 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countGerechtshof Amsterdam149 decisions, 46% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the company 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, 326 published decisions carry this label, 2% fewer than in 2024, from 12 of the 19 courts. Gerechtshof Amsterdam accounts for 149 (46%), followed by Rechtbank Amsterdam (45) and Rechtbank Den Haag (31). By level, district courts account for 42%, courts of appeal for 55% and the highest courts for 3.4%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerechtshof Amsterdam | Court of appeal | 149 | 46% | 9.1% |
| Rechtbank Amsterdam | District court | 45 | 14% | 1.6% |
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 31 | 10% | 0.2% |
| Rechtbank Rotterdam | District court | 22 | 6.7% | 0.5% |
| Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch | Court of appeal | 17 | 5.2% | 1.3% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 16 | 4.9% | 0.3% |
| Gerechtshof Den Haag | Court of appeal | 13 | 4% | 1% |
| Hoge Raad | Supreme Court | 11 | 3.4% | 1.1% |
| Rechtbank Gelderland | District court | 9 | 2.8% | 0.4% |
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 7 | 2.1% | 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 5 | 1.5% | 0.1% |
| Rechtbank Limburg | District court | 1 | 0.3% | 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 company 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 company law decisions went from 21 in 2013 to 326 in 2025. The yearly count ranged from 21 in 2013 to 360 in 2023. These decisions were 0.5% of all published decisions in 2025 and under 0.1% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 21 | under 0.1% |
| 2014 | 16 | 157 | 0 | 173 | 0.7% |
| 2015 | 45 | 210 | 0 | 255 | 1% |
| 2016 | 33 | 225 | 0 | 258 | 1% |
| 2017 | 36 | 171 | 1 | 208 | 0.8% |
| 2018 | 48 | 205 | 0 | 253 | 0.9% |
| 2019 | 41 | 173 | 9 | 223 | 0.8% |
| 2020 | 37 | 200 | 11 | 248 | 0.7% |
| 2021 | 77 | 220 | 4 | 301 | 0.7% |
| 2022 | 88 | 219 | 1 | 308 | 0.7% |
| 2023 | 141 | 201 | 18 | 360 | 0.7% |
| 2024 | 136 | 186 | 11 | 333 | 0.6% |
| 2025 | 136 | 179 | 11 | 326 | 0.5% |
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 company law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Company law decisions are 1.3% of the 25,207 published in 2025 under the civil law label. Other detailed areas of the group include family law (7,005), contract and liability law (5,818) and employment law (1,089).
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the group | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil law | 25,207 | – | +14% |
| Company law | 326 | 1.3% | −2% |
| Family law | 7,005 | 28% | +15% |
| Contract and liability law | 5,818 | 23% | +13% |
| Employment law | 1,089 | 4.3% | +4% |
| Insolvency law | 1,037 | 4.1% | +49% |
| Civil procedure | 589 | 2.3% | −1% |
| Property law | 142 | 0.6% | −2% |
| Intellectual property law | 121 | 0.5% | −1% |
| Public procurement law | 84 | 0.3% | +25% |
| European civil law | 74 | 0.3% | +131% |
| Private international law | 65 | 0.3% | +81% |
| Competition law (civil) | 14 | under 0.1% | – |
A decision can carry several labels, so the detailed areas do not add up to the group.
Understanding these figures
What company law covers
Company law covers the legal rules for businesses and associations: companies, foundations and associations, directors' duties and liability, shareholders' rights and disputes, and annual accounts. In 2025, 326 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Civil cases begin in a district court, whose subdistrict sector deals with smaller claims. Appeals go to a court of appeal, and the Hoge Raad rules in cassation on points of law. In 2025, published decisions with this label came from 12 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 company 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 company law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Gerechtshof Amsterdam alone published 46% of them, and the decisions come from 12 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 company law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 326 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the company law label, 2% fewer than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 0.5% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish company law decisions?
In 2025, Gerechtshof Amsterdam published 149 of them, followed by Rechtbank Amsterdam (45) and Rechtbank Den Haag (31). District courts account for 42% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 55% and the highest courts for 3.4%.
Has the number of published company law decisions changed over time?
The number of published company law decisions went from 21 in 2013 to 326 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from under 0.1% in 2013 to 0.5% in 2025.
What does company law cover?
Company law covers the legal rules for businesses and associations: companies, foundations and associations, directors' duties and liability, shareholders' rights and disputes, and annual accounts.
Do these figures show how many company 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.