Case Selection in the Supreme Court of the Netherlands - Inspired by Common Law Supreme Courts?

Abstract

In his book Final Judgment, Alan Paterson outlines how the organisation and working methods of the Law Lords and their successor the Supreme Court of the UK have evolved over the years. He compares particularities concerning inter alia judicial appointments, the role of judicial assistants and the occurrence
of dissenting opinions to the characteristics of supreme courts' functioning in other common law jurisdictions, such as the United States, Canada and Australia. From a continental-European perspective, Paterson's analysis regarding the mechanism of leave to appeal and the collegial interaction between the Justices of the Supreme Court in this context is of particular interest in light of a recent procedural reform concerning case selection at the Hoge Raad der Nederlanden (Supreme Court of the Netherlands).