Collectieve actie en arbitrage in Nederland

This article deals with class, mass and collective action in arbitration under Dutch law. The authors point out that the Netherlands are well-known (or notorious, if you wish) for their collective action law suits, but they notice that to date such claims are not initiated in arbitration. The authors first investigate the opportunities for collective actions in foreign countries, including the United States, Germany and Spain. Subsequently they investigate if there are any legal impediments for collective action in arbitration in the Netherlands. They conclude that there are no principal objections against this and find strong legal arguments supporting this in older case law from the Supreme Court. They call upon the Dutch legislator to change the pending legislative proposals on collective action and on class action financial settlement in such a way that collective action in arbitration is properly introduced in the Dutch Civil Code.