The District Court of The Hague has ruled that Dutch climate policy is inadequate and that the Dutch State does not sufficiently protect the inhabitants of Bonaire against the consequences of climate change. According to the court, the current climate policy violates both the right to protection of private life and the prohibition of […]

March 14-19, 2026 TEFAF Maastricht! Tens of thousands of visitors will once again be taking lots of photos and selfies. But what if someone knocks something over? A similar situation has occurred before. The case of the Monstrans clock In 1998, someone walked backwards and knocked over a Monstrans clock from 1630. The clock had […]

Introduction The Netherlands is committed to becoming climate neutral by 2050. Part of this goal is to make the built environment more sustainable. This sustainability is being achieved, among other things, at the level of heat supply in the built environment. In the coming years, a transition will therefore have to take place in which […]

On Friday, January 23, 2026, our colleague Roger Cox received an honorary doctorate during Maastricht University’s 50th Dies Natalis. This is a wonderful recognition of his many years of dedication and groundbreaking work in legal cases concerning the responsibility of states and companies to limit the disastrous consequences and major risks of climate change. Roger […]

On January 14, 2026, the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State (“Division”) amended its case law on internal offsetting in zoning plans (ABRvS January 14, 2026, ECLI:NL:RVS:2026:193). This extends the line taken in the Rendac ruling of December 18, 2024, namely that the reference situation may no longer be taken into account when […]

On December 9, 2025, the Senate approved the Collective Heating Act (Wcw). In July 2025, the House of Representatives had already approved the WcW. This means that the WcW has now been passed. The Act is expected to come into force in phases from mid-2026. This act replaces the current Heat Act and aims to […]

Public housing and making buildings more sustainable are challenging tasks in the Netherlands. Adding extra floors to apartment buildings can offer a solution to the housing challenge. In addition, making apartment complexes more sustainable, such as connecting them to district heating networks and installing solar panels, is an important step in the energy transition. Despite […]

More certainty for employers regarding the reintegration of sick employees On October 20, 2025, the draft bill amending the assessment of reintegration efforts and the WIA advance payment scheme was published for internet consultation. Among other things, this bill aims to offer employers greater legal certainty when reintegrating sick employees. The intended date of entry […]

In Bospop I: governance in practice, https://www.paulussen.nl/nl/nieuws/bospop-weert-governance-in-de-praktijk/ the background and reason for this issue have already been explained. In short: under the Dutch Legal Entities Governance and Supervision Act (WBTR), Bospop had to take concrete steps to improve its governance by July 1, 2021, at the latest. However, the Bospop board could not agree on […]

The circle is complete. Ten years after the Dutch court issued its famous ruling in the Urgenda case, the International Court of Justice has confirmed that all states are legally obliged to pursue effective climate policy. On July 23, 2025, the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) issued its advisory opinion on the […]

Een veelvoorkomend misverstand is dat een arbeidsovereenkomst pas tot stand komt als een werkgever en een werknemer een schriftelijke arbeidsovereenkomst ondertekenen. Recent heeft de Kantonrechter van de Rechtbank Limburg (zie ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2025:6100) op basis van de communicatie tussen een werkgever en een sollicitant geoordeeld dat een arbeidsovereenkomst tot stand was gekomen. De feiten De werkneemster heeft gesolliciteerd […]

We are regularly asked whether a contracting authority may withdraw a tender in a specific case. The tender guidelines often state that the contracting authority reserves the right to cancel the tender in whole or in part, temporarily or permanently. The short answer is: in principle, this is allowed – freedom of contract is the […]

Last week, the court in The Hague ruled on a dispute in which friends had lent EUR 100,000 to a friend’s private limited company. The company went bankrupt. There was a written agreement and verbal agreements had been made, which the court also took into account in its ruling. Nevertheless, it did not end well. […]

Municipalities may include a ban on fossil fuel advertising in public spaces in their local regulations. This follows from an important ruling by the District Court of The Hague on April 25, 2025 Why is a ban on fossil fuel advertising important? A ban on fossil fuel advertising is of great importance for climate action. […]

It is no easy task for a creditor to hold a director of a bankrupt private limited company personally liable. One of the situations in which a director may be personally liable is if the director knew or should have understood that, when entering into obligations with the creditor, the company would not be able […]

Dat de bank bij de aankoop van een woning met haar recht van hypotheek zekerheid bewerkstelligd doordat de woning zelf als onderpand voor de bank strekt zal voor iedereen bekend zijn. De bank mag als hypotheeknemer haar vordering op het registergoed met voorrang verhalen als de overeengekomen voorwaarden voor de geldlening en de terugbetaling daarvan […]

A lease agreement is defined in Article 7:201 of the Dutch Civil Code as an agreement whereby: the lessor undertakes to make a property—or part thereof—available for use by the lessee; and the lessee undertakes to provide consideration in return. If an agreement meets this description, it is in principle classified as a lease agreement. […]

CoolBlue fine At the end of last year, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) imposed a fine of €40,000 on CoolBlue for unlawfully processing personal data via cookies on its website in 2020. CoolBlue should have asked its visitors for explicit consent to collect personal data via cookies. CoolBlue did not do so, but simply […]

De belastingdienst zal vanaf 1 januari 2025 terug volledig gaan handhaven op de kwalificatie van arbeidsrelaties. Er kunnen weer naheffingsaanslagen loonheffingen worden opgelegd als er binnen een organisatie sprake is van schijnzelfstandigheid. Het eerste handhavingsjaar (2025) worden echter geen boetes opgelegd. Er wordt een “zachte landing” geboden, omdat het hervatten van de handhaving een grote […]

Today (November 15, 2024), the Supreme Court ruled on Didam II. It looks good for municipalities. We are therefore providing you with an update. Nuances will follow later. Didam I: Background The Municipality (Montferland) negotiated exclusively with developer ‘Groenstaete’ (with partners COOP and Aldi) about the development of an area and the sale of a […]

The Vienna Sales Convention (VSC) contains rules for international sales agreements for movable goods between professional parties/B2B from different countries. The VSC automatically applies if the parties are established in different countries that are parties to the VSC or if, according to the rules of private international law, the law of a contracting state applies. […]

Climate and law: Roger Cox on the radio A few weeks ago, our climate lawyer Roger Cox appeared on two radio programs, where he spoke at length with Jan van Poppel and Floortje Smit. These radio appearances can now be listened to again. Would you like to know more about the work Roger and his […]

The purpose of holidays is “recovery”. Employees need holidays to relax and recharge their batteries, so to speak. However, holidays can lead to legal disputes between employers and employees. In this article, we will discuss a number of real-life situations. The value of a holiday day There is regular discussion about what salary should be […]

On 1 July 2024, an important law in the field of renting came into force: the Affordable Rent Act. The aim of this new law is to create more affordable rental properties, with rents that are proportionate to the quality of the property. Below you will find an overview of the main consequences of this […]

The Administrative Law Division of the Council of State has issued a summary ruling providing clarity on the possibilities for submitting new evidence and grounds for appeal. A few years ago, the Division took the position that new evidence should be disregarded by the administrative court if this evidence could also have been submitted during […]

Litigation generally costs money. This may be the case in administrative law appeal proceedings, among other things. But are the costs incurred eligible for reimbursement? And can you go to court with the sole purpose of obtaining reimbursement of legal costs? Legal costs In administrative law, legal proceedings are often initiated because someone disagrees with […]

In our real estate practice, we have noticed that there is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the Didam ruling. These are the three biggest Didam misconceptions we have encountered in practice: “Serious interest = serious candidate” Those involved in real estate transactions sometimes claim that the municipality is not allowed to sell a […]

If a bank wants to terminate a loan early, legal barriers sometimes stand in the way of doing so. Does this affect the bank’s climate obligations, or its ability to meet them? Climate obligations demand banks to engage with clients, helping and urging clients to deliver on their climate duties. If necessary, banks must increase […]

“Mandatory vaccination should be considered an option if public health continues to be at risk,” “History teaches us: push through mandatory vaccination,” “Mandatory vaccination can backfire,” and “Mandatory vaccination: why, does it help, and can it just happen?” [1] These recent headlines show that the debate on compulsory vaccination for children has flared up again. […]

Yes! Although the general rule is that minors are “legally incompetent”, there are exceptions to this. This is particularly the case when it comes to the protection of certain rights, such as those relating to privacy and personal data. This is evident in a case in which a 17-year-old student sued the foundation that ran […]

A quote this week on www.nos.nl from Dennis Davrados, data breach coordinator at the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP): ‘Sometimes companies think that the stolen data can’t do much harm, but sometimes they simply don’t report it because they are afraid of damage to their image.’ As soon as it does come out – and […]

Op 6 maart 2024 heeft de Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State (hierna: “de Afdeling”) wederom uitspraak (ECLI:NL:RVS:2024:951) gedaan over het tracébesluit “A12/A15 Ressen-Oudbroeken (2021)” (hierna: “het tracébesluit”). Het tracébesluit heeft betrekking op het doortrekken en aansluiten van de A15 op de A12. De zaak over het tracébesluit kent een lange voorgeschiedenis. Tegen het […]

Since last year, our office has seen an increase in the number of bankruptcies. Recently, credit insurer Allianz Trade also reported that it expects a further increase this year in various sectors: hospitality, transport, wholesale, retail and (in particular) construction. Your customer’s bankruptcy often comes as no surprise. Signs of financial difficulties, such as deteriorating […]

For the lunch interview, NRC invites the interviewee to lunch at a location of their choice. If you would like to read the full interview with Roger Cox, download the PDF below. nrc-krant-20240210-4984771-klimaatjurist-roger-cox-je-hoeft-niet-honderd-zaken-te-winnen-om-het-systeem-te-laten-veranderen

Making property more sustainable is a topic that concerns many landlords. When making a rental property more sustainable involves major renovation work, it may be necessary for the tenant to temporarily move out of the rental property. In such cases, Article 7:220(5) of the Dutch Civil Code stipulates that the landlord of residential accommodation must […]

De Hoge Raad heeft in december 2023 geoordeeld dat een perceel grond (bouwkavel) met de publiekrechtelijke bestemming ‘wonen’ (Wro) niet kwalificeert als een tot bewoning bestemde onroerende zaak of bestanddeel daarvan. Dit leidt ertoe dat (1) een koopovereenkomst voor een dergelijk perceel niet schriftelijk hoeft te worden aangegaan en (2) de voor een woning geldende […]

On 1 January 2024, the Quality Assurance Act for Construction (Wkb) came into force. In short, the general aim of the Act is to improve the quality of construction. To this end, amendments have been made to both public and private law. This blog post briefly discusses two amendments to private law, i.e. amendments that […]

Banks are no real-economy actors, but they do face a very real risk of climate liability. Indirectly, because of the litigation impending on clients with greenhouse gas-intensive activities and products. Directly, because banks may fail their own legal duty to actively reduce their (financed) emissions. This latter risk is particularly relevant to many banks considering […]

Onlangs gaf Roger Cox een interview aan de Beroepsopleiding Advocaten. De Beroepsopleiding Advocaten is de officiële tweejarige opleiding van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten. Iedere rechtenstudent die advocaat moet in die periode een stageverklaring halen en deze opleiding met succes voltooien. Het interview met Roger is hieronder weergegeven. De inhoud is vooral relevant voor rechtenstudenten […]

This week Canadian Eco Shock Radio aired a 20 minute interview with our partner and award-winning climate litigator Roger Cox. He talks about the success of the precedent setting Urgenda climate case and the need for more involvement of the legal community in climate change related issues. For listening click on this link and scroll […]

During the past few months our colleague Roger Cox has travelled the globe to give lectures and workshops regarding Urgenda’s successful climate litigation against the Dutch Government. His travels included visits to universities and conferences in Sydney, New York, London, Paris, Barcelona, Oslo, Vienna, Toronto, Melbourne and Philadelphia. One of his lectures can be viewed […]

Dear Sir, Madam,   1   Bankruptcy Macintosh Retail Group N.V. On December 22nd 2015, the District Court of Limburg (location Maastricht) ordered the suspension of payment with respect to the public limited liability company Macintosh Retail Group N.V. (hereafter referred to as “MRG”), with its main office at (NL-6199 AE) Maastricht-Airport, Amerikalaan 100 and appointed […]

The international publication regarding the Dutch Climate Case won by Roger Cox against the Dutch government appeared this month.  In this article the courtcase and the verdict are explained.  Furthermore, the verdict is placed in context of other climate-related courtcases worldwide as wel as the international importance of the verdict detailed.  The article was published by the Centre of International Governance […]

This month, Canadians were able to watch the TV Interview with Roger Cox about the lawsuit he recently won – the Climate case vs the State of the Netherlands.  Roger explains the how and why aspects concerning this historical lawsuit during an interview by the current affairs program “The Agenda” from Canada’s TVO network. Click here for the interview

A new trend is on the horizon. Concerned about the dangers of climate change and the violation of fundamental rights held by citizens, courts are requiring governments to take adequate actions to limit greenhouse gas emissions. On June 23rd in the U.S. and June 24th, 2015 in the Netherlands, news broke simultaneously on opposites sides […]

Op woensdag 24 juni heeft de rechtbank in Den Haag uitspraak gedaan in de klimaatzaak. De stichting Urgenda (http://www.urgenda.nl) werd onder meer bijgestaan door mr. Roger Cox. Paulussen is trots op dit resultaat. De klimaatzaak gaat erover of de Nederlandse Staat voldoende doet tegen de opwarming van de aarde die een gevaarlijke klimaatverandering veroorzaakt. Dat […]

Expansion of services from 1 January 2015 upon merger with Nijbakker Advocaten With the opening of a new office in Parkstad, Maastricht-based law firm Paulussen Advocaten NV is further expanding its portfolio of services. The expansion has been brought about through a merger with Nijbakker Advocaten of Heerlen. The two law firms share a common […]