The justice sector in the Netherlands comprises criminal, civil, and administrative justice institutions and alternative dispute systems.
In the Netherlands, ‘Paths to Justice’ studies provide insight into the experiences of Dutch citizens with the legal system. These studies show how many and which justiciable problems pertaining to civil and administrative law citizens have encountered, which actions citizens have taken in response to these problems, the results obtained, and their evaluation of legal services and procedures. These studies published by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, have been conducted every five years, with the most recent data covering 2015-2019. There are also data on the landscape of justice problems of small and medium-sized businesses of up to ten employees. Data on criminal problems are perhaps slightly more fragmented.Â
Below you will find the story of the justice problems in the everyday life of people in the Netherlands. People told us how the problems affect them, what they do to resolve disputes and crimes, and how they experienced the formal and informal justice system.
This is the justice story as the people in The Netherlands encounter and feel it.