Milieudefensie et al. claimed that Shell has a societal duty of care to reduce its emissions by 2030 with 45% compared to 2019. In first instance the District Court of The Hague ruled in favor of Milieudefensie et al. The Court of Appeal overturned the District Court’s decision and rejected the claims.
AG Szpunar confirms in an opinion for the ECJ that the right for injured parties of a competition law infringement to assign their claims to a litigation vehicle for the purpose of starting damages proceedings follows directly from the cartel prohibition of Article 101 TFEU. Moreover, national rules that make the assignment of antitrust damages claims impossible or excessively difficult should be disapplied.
The International Comparative Legal Guide - Class and Group Actions 2025 has been published on 23 October 2025. Our colleagues Noor Hogerzeil, Simon Mineur and Damiën Berkhout have written the chapter on The Netherlands. This chapter provides an analysis of the Dutch class action system, and covers common issues including actions by representative organizations, court procedures, time limits, remedies, costs and funding.
Advocate-General Kokott of the ECJ has delivered an important opinion on the application of the presumption of decisive influence in the context of a jurisdictional analysis under the recast Brussels I Regulation.
The Dutch collective redress system continues to be dynamic, with interesting decisions being provided by the courts. In this class action update, Noor Hogerzeil and Damiën Berkhout provide comments on two recent cases. In the first case, the Dutch Supreme Court provides an important decision on the applicable limitation period for individuals after a successful collective action. In the second case, the court provides more clarity on the admissibility requirements in case of general interest and ESG claims.
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