The Hoge Raad van Holland, Zeeland en West-Friesland (; usually translated in the literature as "High Court of Holland and Zeeland," though "Supreme Court" may better designate its function, and the literal translation is: "High ''Council'' of Holland and Zeeland") was the supreme court of the provinces of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

and

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

in the period 1582-1795. This court is considered a direct predecessor of the current ''Hoge Raad der Nederlanden'' ( Supreme Court of the Netherlands). It played an important role in the formation of Roman-Dutch law, which still influences law in Southern Africa, through its

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

History

The

Great Council of Mechelen From the 15th century onwards, the Great Council of the Netherlands at Mechelen (Dutch: ''De Grote Raad der Nederlanden te Mechelen''; French: ''le grand conseil des Pays-Bas à Malines''; German: ''der Grosse Rat der Niederlände zu Mecheln'') w ...

was the final Court of Appeal in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary, wife of Maximilian I of Austr ...

for all provincial High Courts. When, however, the rebellious provinces of Holland and Zeeland became physically separated from this court due to the difficulties for travellers during the military campaigns of the early Eighty Years' War after 1572, the practical lack of a possibility of appeal from sentences of the '' Hof van Holland'' (the provincial High Court for both provinces since 1428) was felt as a serious problem. This could only be solved after the

Act of Abjuration The Act of Abjuration ( nl, Plakkaat van Verlatinghe; es, Acta de Abjuración, lit=placard of abjuration) is the declaration of independence by many of the provinces of the Netherlands from the allegiance to Philip II of Spain, during the Dut ...

of 1581 had formalised the deposition of the overlord of the Netherlands, Philip II of Spain. The

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

decided to replace the Great Council in the provinces of the

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht ( nl, Unie van Utrecht) was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain. History The Union of Utrecht is r ...

with its own "supra-provincial' court in 1582. But only the

States of Holland The States of Holland and West Frisia ( nl, Staten van Holland en West-Friesland) were the representation of the two Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a c ...

accepted for the time being such a supreme court, which meant that its

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

remained limited to that province. Only in 1587 did the States of Zeeland accede to the Supreme Court. No other provinces joined them. The court was dissolved together with the other institutions of the Dutch Republic after the Batavian Republic overthrew the old Republic in 1795.

The Instruction of 1582

The ''Instructie'' that the States-General drew up, promulgated on 31 May 1582 by

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

, to regulate the Supreme Court was in large part based on the

Ordonnance In French politics, an ''ordonnance'' (, "order") is a statutory instrument issued by the Council of Ministers in an area of law normally reserved for primary legislation enacted by the French Parliament. They function as temporary statutes pend ...

of 1559 that governed the Great Council. This text, comprising 289 articles, would essentially remain in force during the entire history of the Court. The first 50 articles describe the jurisdiction and competence, composition and internal procedures of the court. Then follow the articles governing the work of the ''procureur-generaal'' (sollicitor-general) and ''advocaat-fiscaal'' (attorney-general) (art. LI-LXIII). Next follow articles regarding the ''griffier'' (

Clerk of court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...

) and secretaries (art. LXIV-XCIII). Then follow rules governing the competence and procedure of the court (XCIV-CIV), directly followed by rules about the way the bailiffs would execute the decrees of the court (CV-CXX). Then follow rules about the division of work between ''procureurs'' (sollicitors) and ''advocaten'' (attorneys, barristers), and the tariff for their services (CXXI-CLXVI), followed by rules about the procedures during trials (CLXVII-CXC). And finally details about the different legal remedies to be sought before the court were given (CXCI-CLXXXXIX).

Jurisdiction and competence

The organisation of the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

that the Dutch Republic inherited from the Habsburg Netherlands was a patchwork of city and feudal courts on a local level, applying local law, like ''

Schepen A schepen (Dutch; . ') or échevin (French) or Schöffe (German) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands. It has been replaced by the ' in the Netherlands (a municipal executive). In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''éch ...

banken'', '' Baljuw's courts'', and Heerlijkheid's courts that acted as

courts of first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...

in both criminal and civil cases. In general, appeal from criminal verdicts was not possible, so that the

Appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

s only took appeals of civil cases. The provincial High Court (the ''Hof van Holland'') took these appeals, but also acted as court of first instance in a number of cases. The Supreme Court of Holland and Zeeland provided a possibility of (higher) appeal from cases decided in the provincial high court and the courts of the '' Hoogheemraadschappen'' (which handled certain land-use cases). It also had

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the S ...

in certain cases, e.g. commercial cases involving foreign merchants (and foreign law). Cases of Reversal (i.e. in which a final verdict was reviewed and possibly overturned) were reserved for the States-General which as ''Hoge Overheid'' or sovereign power in the Republic was the ultimate fount of justice (the States-General exceptionally also took politically sensitive cases, like the

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (), Heer van Berkel en Rodenrijs (1600), Gunterstein (1611) and Bakkum (1613) (14 September 1547 – 13 May 1619) was a Dutch statesman and revolutionary who played an important role in the Dutch struggle for indepen ...

and Hugo Grotius in 1618 and the trial of the Amboyna judges). In appeals cases the Supreme Court generally had three remedies available: direct appeal from a decree of a lower court (comparable to a

writ of Certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

), and judicial review of an entire case (comparable to a petition for a

writ of Mandamus (; ) is a judicial remedy in the form of an order from a court to any government, subordinate court, corporation, or public authority, to do (or forbear from doing) some specific act which that body is obliged under law to do (or refrain fro ...

), both in cases decided by the judiciary, and by an arbiter. In cases of original jurisdiction (which were ''ipso facto'' also cases of final jurisdiction) the court had all the usual legal remedies avalilable. The court had also single jurisdiction over petitions for ''rechterlijke middelen van herstel en gunst'', a number of legal remedies that had been executed by the ''Hoge Overheid'' (Sovereign) under his powers of Grace and Pardon but now fell to the courts. An example are acts of

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

by debtors. In these cases the Supreme Court usually committed the case to a lower court for disposal. Finally, the Supreme Court acted in cases of voluntary adjudication of

Public instrument A public instrument is any legal instrument (legal document) recorded with and authenticated by a public office or employee. To carry weight, any such instrument, must be genuine and authentic. Public instruments consequently must bear the name, tit ...

s (in Dutch: ''Authentieke akten'').

Composition

The Supreme Court in 1582 had nine ''raadsheren'' (councillors, justices) and a ''president-raadsheer'' (president-councillor) all from Holland. When Zeeland joined the court in 1587 that province got 2 of the 9 councillors. In 1596 the number of councillors was increased to 10 and Zeeland got 3 councillors. This remained the composition of the court till 1795. The ''griffier'' and his deputy were the main administrative support of the court. The court further had two "first bailiffs" or ''deurwaarders'' to maintain order in the court and to execute its writs within the city of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. The ''ontvanger der exploiten'' (receiver of fees) collected the fees and fines and made payments for the court. These were the offices in the court that were filled by the Stadtholder (for life, in the case of the councillors) on the nomination of the States of the two provinces. (During the

First Stadtholderless Period The First Stadtholderless Period or Era (1650–72; nl, Eerste Stadhouderloze Tijdperk) is the period in the history of the Dutch Republic in which the office of Stadtholder was vacant in five of the seven Dutch provinces (the provinces of Fries ...

and the

Second Stadtholderless Period The Second Stadtholderless Period or Era ( nl, Tweede Stadhouderloze Tijdperk) is the designation in Dutch historiography of the period between the death of stadtholder William III on March 19, 1702, and the appointment of William IV as stadthol ...

, when the office of stadtholder was left vacant, the provincial States filled vacancies.) The court further had a modest administrative staff that in case of need was augmented with servants of the ''Hof van Holland'', which also resided in The Hague, next door in the Binnenhof. Two councillors held the weekly audience in which petitioners and lawyers presented documents for the cases the court heard. Generally one councillor was charged by the president to hear the case as a judge-commissioner in

evidentiary hearing Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine wh ...

s, called the ''enqueste'', while another councillor (''rapporteur'') reported the case to the full court for its deliberations (a quorum of seven councillors was required for a valid deliberation). Individual councillors informally acted as mediators between parties to promote settlements (which could be reached at any stage of a case before the final verdict). The ''procureurs'' and ''advocaten'' were officers of the court, but acted for individual clients. They also appeared before the ''Hof van Holland''. The ''procureur-generaal'' and the ''advocaat-fiscaal'' were officials appointed by the stadtholder to advise the court (and sometimes to take part in the deliberations of the court if otherwise a quorum could not be reached due to illness of a councillor), but mainly to represent the state in cases before the court.

Presidents

*Treslong, Johan van (18-01-1582 - 05-06-1583) *Nicolai, Aarnout (22-10-1583 - 22-01-1592) *Egmond van de Nijenburg, Dirk van (11-05-1592 - 07-01-1597) *Banchem, Johan van (01-02-1599 - 29-11-1601) *Brederode, Reinoud van (18-03-1602 - 07-01-1633) * Haga, Cornelis (17-06-1645 - 12-08-1654) *Pauw, Reynier (14-05-1655 - 20-01-1676) *Fagel, François (24-05-1677 - 12-11-1680) *Druyff, Hendrik (02-04-1681 - 18-11-1690) *Rooseboom, Hubertus (03-03-1691 - 04-10-1722) *Admiraal, Simon (23-03-1723 - 02-03-1724) * Bijnkershoek, Cornelis van (26-05-1724 - 16-04-1743) *Hees, Hendrik van (20-06-1743 - 04-08-1754) *Grande, Adriaan de (14-11-1754 - 09-08-1763) *Mollerus, Hendrik (29-10-1763 - 08-12-1783) *Pauw, Willem (19-03-1784 - 24-06-1787) *Mauregnault, Johan Boreel de (02-11-1787 - 1795)

Councillors

*Amstel van Mijnden tot Cronenburgh, Amelis van (1582 - 1592) *Oem van Wijngaerden, Gerard (18-01-1582 - 1591) *Foreest, Nanning van (18-01-1582 - 1592) *Hogendorp, Gijsbert van (18-01-1582 - 01-1584) *Egmond van de Nijenburg, Dirk van (18-01-1582 - 10-05-1592) *Loosen, Sebastiaan van (18-01-1582 - 24-04-1597) *Banchem, Johan van (18-01-1582 - 30-01-1599) *Mortagne, Geraart van (18-01-1582 - 03-1583) *Beets, Johan (09-06-1582 - 07-1583) *Wensen, Adriaan (24-10-1583 - 1587) *Nieuwstad, Cornelis Mathiasz. van der (23-02-1584 - 25-06-1606) *Valcke, Jacob (05-1589 - ) *Hermansz., Frederik (06-07-1589 - 11-1593) *Leyden van Leeuwen, Dirc Adriaensz. van (30-09-1591 - 21-04-1596) * Does, Johan van der (30-09-1591 - 08-10-1604) * Vranck, Franchois (11-05-1592 - 11-10-1617) *Bouchorst, Amelis van den (24-06-1593 - 1602) *Voogt, Leonart (04-01-1594 - 09-06-1613) * Hoogerbeets, Rombout (21-05-1596 - 22-12-1617) *Hermansz., Frederik (15-01-1597 - ) *Hinojossa, Pieter de (15-01-1597 - 16-05-1607) *Brederode, Reinoud van (16-05-1597 - 17-03-1602) *Santen, Johan van (17-11-1603 - 26-10-1609) *Honert, Rochus van den (17-11-1603 - 30-01-1638) *Veen, Simon van (20-03-1607 - 26-10-1610) *Vosbergen, Caspar van (09-10-1608 - 13-03-1626) *Scotte, Apollonius (09-10-1608 - 01-11-1639) *Veer, Albert de (26-05-1611 - 08-02-1620) *Asperen, Paulus van (02-01-1613 - 13-05-1641) *Ruychaver, Nicolaas (28-01-1614 - 14-07-1620) * Duyck, Anthony (04-10-1619 - 09-02-1621) *Fagel, François (06-10-1619 - 02-03-1644) *Pauw, Reynier (26-01-1621 - 13-05-1655) *Coren, Jacob Gerritsz. (17-04-1621 - 24-10-1631) *Casembroot, Jan Leonart de (21-12-1621 - 04-11-1637) *Reygersberge, Nicolaas van (04-11-1625 - 03-08-1654) *Jonge, Cornelis de (10-11-1626 - 13-08-1649) *Waal, Anthonis de (30-01-1634 - 14-09-1658) *Opmeer, Pieter (06-08-1638 - 22-12-1639) *Foreest, Jan van (06-08-1638 - 27-10-1651) *Doublet, George (27-04-1640 - 30-04-1655) *Oudensteyn, Matthijs van (24-04-1642 - 18-01-1647) *Heemskerck, Jan van (17-06-1645 - 27-02-1656) *Schotte, Jacob (02-08-1645 - 27-02-1670) *Riccen, Frederik (27-03-1649 - 29-09-1652) *Pieterson, Cornelis (30-11-1651 - 25-05-1664) *Bije, Nicolaes de (30-08-1652 - 16-02-1675) *Born, François van den (18-12-1652 - 08-01-1670) *Haese, Theodorus de (10-11-1654 - 12-11-1668) *Riccen, Franco (05-08-1655 - 16-01-1673) *Moons, Johan (05-08-1655 - 06-03-1669) *Hudde, Hendrick (03-08-1656 - 31-03-1677) *Olycan, IJsbrand (19-11-1658 - 09-03-1660) *Druyff, Hendrik (19-11-1660 - 01-04-1681) *Nideck, Gijsbert Rudolphi van (15-03-1669 - 06-04-1690) *Ockers, Pieter (20-09-1669 - 23-09-1678) *Gruywaart, Hieronymus (20-09-1669 - 12-10-1675) *Fagel, François (14-03-1670 - 23-05-1677) *Brande, Johan van den (25-07-1670 - 28-03-1673) * Witt, Johan de (04-08-1672 - 20-08-1672) *Kinschot, Roeland van (20-03-1673 - 04-02-1701) *Borselen van der Hooge, Adriaan van (31-07-1674 - 16-01-1694) *Hop, Cornelis (27-03-1675 - 05-11-1704) *Rooseboom, Hubertus (17-07-1677 - 02-03-1691) *Bronckhorst, Vincent van (31-07-1677 - 04-02-1703) *Cobmoyer, Adriaen (12-04-1680 - 17-06-1680) *Ockers, Johan (12-04-1680 - 25-09-1680) *Citters, Arnout van (17-06-1680 - 13-07-1684) *Broeck, Willem van den (10-09-1681 - 22-09-1726) *Pieterson, Cornelis (25-11-1681 - 23-11-1701) *Huybert, Anthony de (14-07-1684 - 02-12-1702) *Heym, Anthony Gerritsz. van der (22-08-1690 - 1698) *Admiraal, Simon (27-03-1691 - 22-03-1723) *Verbrugge, Rutgert (27-07-1695 - 31-01-1715) *Vries, Feltrum de (02-08-1698 - 13-08-1723) *Sluysken, Willem (31-03-1701 - 14-03-1715) *Schaep, Reinier (16-03-1703 - 02-07-1734) *Ketelaer, Nicolaas (14-05-1703 - 07-05-1749) *Bijnkershoek, Cornelis van (23-04-1704 - 25-05-1724) *Roovere, Pompejus de (21-11-1704 - 24-08-1742) *Kruysse, Abraham van der (01-04-1715 - 20-04-1716) *Santheuvel, Diederik van den (19-07-1715 - 08-09-1718) *Hoop, François van der (13-09-1717 - 17-05-1741) *Hees, Hendrik van (01-12-1718 - 19-06-1743) *Visscher, Adolf (28-07-1723 - 23-04-1726) *Bleyswijk, Johan van (10-09-1723 - 13-03-1748) *Duurcant, Willem (19-09-1724 - 01-07-1740) *Does, Johan van der (12-07-1726 - 29-09-1746) *Grande, Adriaan de (22-11-1726 - 13-11-1754) *Hop, Johannes (17-09-1734 - 01-02-1748) *Mollerus, Hendrik (21-11-1740 - 28-10-1763) *Pauw, Willem (24-11-1741 - 18-03-1784) *Nispen, Johan van (14-09-1742 - 07-01-1776) *Santheuvel, Adriaan van den (19-07-1743 - 16-02-1778) *Dierkens, Willem Hendrik (02-12-1746 - 04-04-1776) *Ruster, Abraham van (26-03-1748 - 18-03-1754) *Alewijn, Abraham (26-03-1748 - 09-07-1755) *Mauregnault, Johan Boreel de (27-04-1750 - 01-11-1787) *Hoeufft, Pompejus (23-07-1754 - 21-11-1787) *Hees, Anthony Hendrik van (18-03-1755 - 17-09-1768)

References

{{Authority control Judiciary of the Netherlands Legal history of the Dutch Republic Eighty Years' War 1582 establishments in Europe