Summary proceedings lawyer in the Netherlands (kort geding)

MAAK Advocaten represents international businesses in Dutch summary proceedings (kort geding), the accelerated court procedure that delivers a first-instance judgment within weeks rather than months. Summary proceedings are one of the most effective tools in Dutch commercial litigation, and for time-sensitive matters they are often the difference between a dispute that resolves and a dispute that drags on.

Kort geding is regulated by articles 254 to 259 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering). It is available when the claimant has an urgent interest (spoedeisend belang) that justifies a provisional ruling before the normal merits procedure can deliver a decision. The ruling is provisional rather than final, but in commercial practice most kort geding decisions end the dispute because neither party has an economic incentive to continue after the first judgment.

This page explains what summary proceedings are, what they can and cannot do, when they are the right route, and how MAAK Advocaten approaches urgent commercial matters for international clients.

What summary proceedings are and when they are available

Summary proceedings are accelerated civil proceedings before a specialised judge (the voorzieningenrechter) of the Dutch District Court. The claimant files a summons, a hearing is scheduled on short notice, and the judge delivers a reasoned ruling within a short period after the hearing. The procedure is provisional, meaning the judge does not make a final determination on the merits, but the decision is immediately enforceable.

The core requirement is an urgent interest (spoedeisend belang). The claimant must demonstrate that the matter is too urgent to wait for the regular merits procedure, which at first instance typically takes twelve to eighteen months. Urgency is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and commercial reality is a real factor: undisputed or clearly due payment obligations, ongoing violations of intellectual property rights, imminent contractual breaches, and situations where delay would produce irreversible harm all routinely satisfy the urgency test.

Summary proceedings cannot do everything. The judge will not decide complex factual disputes that require extensive evidence or witness examination. The judge will not make final rulings that the merits court would need to reverse. The judge will assess the apparent legal position on the basis of the submissions and the documents, and will grant provisional relief where the claimant is plausibly in the right. For complex merits disputes, kort geding is a tactical step rather than a final resolution.

What kort geding is used for in commercial practice

In our commercial litigation practice, summary proceedings come up in a predictable set of situations. The common thread is that the client needs fast action and a court-enforceable result in weeks rather than months.

The most common uses we see are:

• Payment of undisputed or clearly due amounts: unpaid invoices, instalments under a finance agreement, amounts due under a settlement agreement, and similar payment claims where the obligation is not genuinely disputed
• Specific performance: compelling the other party to perform a specific contractual obligation, reinforced by a periodic penalty payment (dwangsom) under article 611a of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure
• Injunctive relief: stopping the other party from doing something unlawful, such as breaching a non-compete, using a trade mark without authorisation, making defamatory statements, or breaching confidentiality
• Release of goods or documents: ordering the return of property, the release of goods held as security, or the production of specific documents required for an ongoing matter
• Emergency decisions on contractual termination: rulings on whether a termination notice is valid, whether supply must continue pending a final decision, or whether an agreement can be enforced immediately
• Post-attachment validation: following a pre-judgment attachment (conservatoir beslag), kort geding is often used for the substantive step that confirms or extends the attachment
• Interim rulings in ongoing disputes: where full merits litigation is also ongoing but a specific question needs faster treatment

For commercial claimants, the combination of kort geding and conservatoir beslag is one of the most effective procedural packages in Dutch law. The attachment freezes the debtor's assets on short notice, the summary proceeding delivers a judgment within weeks, and the combination usually produces a commercial settlement before the matter ever reaches full merits litigation.

Procedure and timelines

The kort geding procedure is structured around speed. From filing the summons to a final ruling, the full process typically runs between four and eight weeks, and can be substantially shorter for truly urgent matters.

The procedural steps are: the claimant drafts a summons (dagvaarding) setting out the facts, the legal grounds, the relief sought and the urgency. The summons is served on the defendant by a Dutch bailiff (deurwaarder). A hearing date is requested from the voorzieningenrechter, and is typically scheduled within two to four weeks of filing, depending on the court's schedule and the level of urgency. At the hearing, both sides present oral argument and may submit additional written documents. The judge then renders a ruling, usually within two to four weeks of the hearing, although urgent rulings can be delivered within days or even at the hearing itself.

The ruling is immediately enforceable. Unlike a regular first-instance judgment, which can be subject to extensive appellate suspension arguments, a kort geding ruling that grants relief can typically be enforced without waiting for any appeal. Appeal is possible to the Court of Appeal (gerechtshof), but the initial ruling remains enforceable pending that appeal unless the appellate court specifically orders otherwise.

Ex parte relief (a ruling obtained without prior notice to the defendant) is available in exceptional circumstances where prior notice would defeat the purpose of the application, particularly in combination with conservatoir beslag. For most commercial kort geding matters, however, the defendant is served and attends the hearing.

Costs of summary proceedings in the Netherlands

Summary proceedings are significantly cheaper than full merits litigation in both court fees and legal costs, which is one of the reasons they are so commonly used in Dutch commercial practice.

The court fee (griffierecht) for a kort geding depends on the amount in dispute and the status of the claimant (company, individual, non-profit). For claims up to 100,000 euro, company fees are currently in the range of several hundred to a few thousand euro, and for claims above that threshold the fees rise but remain substantially below the fees for regular merits proceedings at the same value. Bailiff costs for serving the summons are also lower than in regular proceedings because only one served document is typically required.

Legal costs depend on the complexity and preparation time. A typical commercial kort geding, from first instruction to ruling, involves drafting the summons (usually the most time-intensive step), preparing for the hearing and attending it, and reviewing the ruling. For straightforward matters, fixed fees are often achievable. For complex or contested kort geding matters, hourly rates or hybrid arrangements are more common. As in Dutch litigation generally, the losing party is ordered to pay a portion of the winning party's legal costs based on standardised tariffs (liquidatietarief), which cover only part of the actual legal fees.

When summary proceedings are not the right route

Summary proceedings are a powerful tool but they are not always the right one. For matters that require full factual determination, complex expert evidence, or a final legal ruling that will bind the parties for the long term, the regular merits procedure is the better route.

Specific situations where kort geding is likely not the right answer include disputes that turn on complex factual determinations the court cannot resolve in a short hearing, disputes where the urgency argument is weak (because waiting for a regular procedure would not meaningfully prejudice the claimant), and disputes where a provisional ruling is unlikely to change the commercial behaviour of the other side. For these matters, filing a regular merits claim (with or without a pre-judgment attachment to secure the eventual judgment) is usually more efficient.

In practice, the choice between kort geding and regular proceedings is one of the first strategic decisions we discuss with a client when a dispute is about to start. Sometimes the answer is both: use kort geding for an urgent point while the main claim proceeds in the regular merits forum.

Working with MAAK Advocaten on summary proceedings

Our summary proceedings practice runs in English, German and Dutch. Submissions before regular Dutch District Courts are filed in Dutch, as procedural rules require, but we prepare all client-facing materials and hearing strategy in the client's working language. Clients reach the specialist handling the file directly, and fees are agreed in advance as described on our lawyer fees page. The litigation practice is led by Sander van Someren Gréve.

If you are facing a matter that needs an urgent Dutch court ruling, or you have been served with a kort geding summons and need to respond fast, the first step is a short call to assess the urgency and the procedural options. That conversation is at no charge. Read more about MAAK Advocaten.

Related terms in our legal dictionary: obtaining a pre-judgment attachment, periodic penalty payment (dwangsom), timeline of Dutch proceedings, default judgment.

Related pages: Litigation in the Netherlands guide, breach of contract litigation, debt collection, enforcement of judgments, litigation law firm.

Call +31 20 210 31 38, email mail@maakadvocaten.nl, or visit our contact page. MAAK Advocaten is based at Kraanspoor 34, 1033 SE Amsterdam.

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly can a kort geding judgment be obtained?

From first instruction to final ruling, a typical commercial kort geding runs between four and eight weeks. The summons is drafted and served, the hearing is scheduled within two to four weeks of filing, and the ruling is delivered within two to four weeks of the hearing. For genuinely urgent matters the timelines can be compressed further, and in exceptional cases ex parte relief is available within days. For ordinary commercial matters the standard four-to-eight-week range is realistic.

Is a kort geding ruling a final decision on the merits?

No. A kort geding ruling is provisional by nature. It does not finally determine the legal rights of the parties, and either party can start a regular merits procedure afterwards to obtain a final ruling. In commercial practice, however, most kort geding rulings effectively end the dispute, because the practical impact of the provisional ruling combined with the cost and time of a full merits procedure makes settlement the rational outcome for the losing party. The formal legal nature and the commercial reality can be different.

Can a kort geding be used to collect an unpaid invoice from a Dutch counterparty?

Yes, and it is one of the most common uses of kort geding in commercial practice. Where the underlying claim is not genuinely disputed (or the dispute is clearly without merit), an unpaid invoice can be enforced through a summary proceeding that delivers a payment order within weeks. Combined with a pre-judgment attachment on the debtor's Dutch bank accounts, receivables or other assets, the procedure frequently produces payment before the hearing even takes place.