Netherlands · Area of law · Omgevingsrecht
Planning and environmental law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 2,001 published decisions carry the planning and environmental law label (Omgevingsrecht) in the Netherlands, 28% more than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts, and Raad van State accounts for 20% of them. Together they make up 3.1% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 20252,001+28% over one year
- Share of all published decisions3.1%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions12 of 1911 district courts, 0 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countRaad van State402 decisions, 20% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the planning and environmental 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, 2,001 published decisions carry this label, 28% more than in 2024, from 12 of the 19 courts. Raad van State accounts for 402 (20%), followed by Rechtbank Den Haag (313) and Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (290). By level, district courts account for 80%, the highest courts for 20%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raad van State | Highest administrative court | 402 | 20% | 7.2% |
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 313 | 16% | 1.7% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 290 | 14% | 5.6% |
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 250 | 12% | 4.1% |
| Rechtbank Gelderland | District court | 211 | 11% | 10% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 127 | 6.3% | 3.6% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Nederland | District court | 124 | 6.2% | 10% |
| Rechtbank Rotterdam | District court | 104 | 5.2% | 2.3% |
| Rechtbank Oost-Brabant | District court | 81 | 4% | 7.5% |
| Rechtbank Amsterdam | District court | 53 | 2.6% | 1.9% |
| Rechtbank Overijssel | District court | 41 | 2% | 2.5% |
| Rechtbank Limburg | District court | 5 | 0.2% | 0.3% |
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 planning and environmental 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 planning and environmental law decisions went from 592 in 2013 to 2,001 in 2025 (+238%). The yearly count ranged from 526 in 2014 to 2,001 in 2025. These decisions were 3.1% of all published decisions in 2025 and 2.5% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 133 | 1 | 458 | 592 | 2.5% |
| 2014 | 141 | 0 | 385 | 526 | 2.1% |
| 2015 | 230 | 0 | 331 | 561 | 2.2% |
| 2016 | 240 | 0 | 333 | 573 | 2.3% |
| 2017 | 294 | 0 | 328 | 622 | 2.3% |
| 2018 | 301 | 0 | 414 | 715 | 2.6% |
| 2019 | 363 | 0 | 363 | 726 | 2.6% |
| 2020 | 580 | 0 | 253 | 833 | 2.3% |
| 2021 | 799 | 0 | 290 | 1,089 | 2.6% |
| 2022 | 901 | 0 | 285 | 1,186 | 2.7% |
| 2023 | 1,240 | 0 | 311 | 1,551 | 3% |
| 2024 | 1,245 | 0 | 314 | 1,559 | 2.7% |
| 2025 | 1,599 | 0 | 402 | 2,001 | 3.1% |
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 planning and environmental law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Planning and environmental law decisions are 5.1% 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% |
| Planning and environmental law | 2,001 | 5.1% | +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% |
| Civil service law | 116 | 0.3% | −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 planning and environmental law covers
Planning and environmental law covers the use of land and the living environment: zoning plans, building and environmental permits, nature conservation, noise, soil and water, and enforcement against illegal building. In 2025, 2,001 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Appeals go to the district courts and then to the Council of State. Challenges to zoning plans and some other decisions go straight to the Council of State. 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 planning and environmental 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 planning and environmental law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Raad van State alone published 20% 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 planning and environmental law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 2,001 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the planning and environmental law label, 28% more than in 2024. They come from 12 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 3.1% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish planning and environmental law decisions?
In 2025, Raad van State published 402 of them, followed by Rechtbank Den Haag (313) and Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (290). District courts account for 80% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 0% and the highest courts for 20%.
Has the number of published planning and environmental law decisions changed over time?
The number of published planning and environmental law decisions went from 592 in 2013 to 2,001 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from 2.5% in 2013 to 3.1% in 2025.
What does planning and environmental law cover?
Planning and environmental law covers the use of land and the living environment: zoning plans, building and environmental permits, nature conservation, noise, soil and water, and enforcement against illegal building.
Do these figures show how many planning and environmental 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.