Supreme Court of the Netherlands

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands, known in Dutch as the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden and officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal, and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and Aruba. Established on 1 October 1838 and located in The Hague, it is a court of cassation, meaning it can quash or affirm the rulings of lower courts on questions of law without re-examining the facts of a case, and in doing so it builds the country's case law. Because the government of the Netherlands rests on parliamentary sovereignty, Article 120 of the Constitution bars the Supreme Court, like other Dutch courts, from ruling on the constitutionality of acts passed by the States-General and treaties, though it may still overturn secondary legislation made by the executive. The Court currently consists of 36 judges, a president, six vice presidents, twenty-five justices, and four justices extraordinary, all appointed for life until they retire voluntarily or reach the mandatory age of 70.