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In the Netherlands, you obtain an injunction in summary proceedings (kort geding) before the interim relief judge (voorzieningenrechter). The judge can order an immediate provisional measure in any urgent matter where the interests of the parties require it (Article 254(1) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). The order is usually backed by a penalty payment (dwangsom).
This page explains, for foreign businesses, when a Dutch court grants an injunction, how the procedure works, how the order is enforced and how it can be challenged. It is written by a Dutch lawyer who acts for claimants and defendants in injunction proceedings.
When can you ask a Dutch court for an injunction?
You need an urgent interest: the matter must be so urgent that, given the interests of both parties, an immediate provisional measure is required (Article 254(1) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure).
In the Netherlands, a preliminary injunction in civil cases is sought from the interim relief judge (in Dutch: “voorzieningenrechter“) of the district court in a special urgent procedure (in Dutch: “kort geding“, Article 254 Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). In cases that the subdistrict court decides on the merits, such as employment and lease cases, the subdistrict judge (kantonrechter) can also grant interim relief (Article 254(5)).
These procedures may be necessary if urgency demands it. Think, for example, of situations in which property is at stake, or when there is a threat of damage to your reputation due to a publication or other action that damages your company, such as a violation of IP rights, a non-competition clause or the non-fulfilment of contractual agreements, e.g. due to an irregular termination of your long-term relationship. In all these examples, you can request injunctive relief from the civil court.
How do you obtain an injunction from a Dutch court?
In an urgent matter, it is in your interest that immediate action can be taken and that a judgment of the interim relief judge is obtained quickly.
You do this by sending a draft writ of summons (in Dutch: “dagvaarding“) to the court with a request for a hearing date. If you know the dates on which the other party or its lawyer is unavailable (verhinderdata), you include them. The judge sets the day and hour of the hearing, if necessary on a Sunday, and may attach conditions that must appear in the summons (Article 254(2)). The summons is then served on the defendant by a bailiff.
The judge sets the hearing date according to the urgency of the case. In practice, a hearing often takes place within a few weeks, and in very urgent cases within days. Our litigation lawyers aim for a speedy hearing when a quick ruling matters, and also act for defendants who must prepare a defence under time pressure.
Besides an order to do or stop doing something, you can claim an advance payment, for example on damages for breach of contract or a wrongful act. The court then checks whether the claim is sufficiently plausible and whether there is an urgent interest, and weighs the risk that the money cannot be repaid if the court in the main proceedings later rules otherwise (Supreme Court 28 May 2004, ECLI:NL:HR:2004:AP0263).
What is a Dutch injunction?
An injunction is a court order to do something or to refrain from doing something. In Dutch civil law it is usually granted as a provisional measure in kort geding, but a court can also issue it in proceedings on the merits.
Kort geding starts with a writ of summons that a bailiff serves on the defendant, after the court has set the hearing date. The summons sets out the facts, the claim and the grounds. At the hearing, both parties present their arguments and the judge decides, usually in a written judgment shortly afterwards.
The judgment is provisional: it does not prejudice the main proceedings (Article 257). The judge can declare it provisionally enforceable, even without a request (Article 258). It must then be complied with even if an appeal is lodged. A Dutch injunction is normally backed by a penalty payment (dwangsom, Article 611a). The court can set it as a lump sum, per breach or per unit of time, with or without a maximum (Article 611b). It cannot be forfeited before the judgment has been served (Article 611a(3)).
What do you need to prepare before applying for an injunction?
Before you request a hearing date, make sure you have the following in place:
- Knowing what type of injunctive relief you need;
- Identifying which court has jurisdiction over your matter;
- Establishing who should be served with papers and where they are located;
- Preparing all necessary documents for filing before a judge;
- Submitting required evidence regarding the plaintiff’s claim.
Which requirements must be met?
The claimant must show an urgent interest (Article 254(1) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure) and make it plausible that the court in proceedings on the merits would probably grant the same claim. The judge weighs the interests of both parties. If the case requires extensive investigation of facts or evidence, the judge can refuse the measure because the case is not suitable for kort geding (Article 256). A prejudgment attachment is a separate tool: it requires leave from the interim relief judge, who decides after a summary examination (Article 700(1)-(2)).
The court will consider evidence presented by both parties when deciding whether to grant or deny the injunction request. In doing so, it weighs the interests of both parties and assesses how likely it is that the claim would be granted in proceedings on the merits (see above).
If the court grants the injunction, the judgment states exactly what the defendant must do or stop doing, and from when. The order does not lapse automatically; it stays in force unless it is set aside on appeal or a court in the main proceedings decides otherwise (Article 257). In intellectual property cases, there is a special rule: the provisional measure can lose its effect if the claimant does not start main proceedings in time (Article 1019i).
How is an injunction enforced?
A Dutch judgment is itself the enforcement title. No separate enforcement order is needed. The judgment must first be served on the defendant by a bailiff (Article 430(3) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure), and the penalty payment can only be forfeited after service (Article 611a(3)).
- Collecting penalty payments: once forfeited, the penalty payment belongs to the claimant, who can enforce it under the same judgment, for example by attaching bank accounts (Article 611c).
- Six-month limit: a forfeited penalty payment becomes time-barred six months after the day it was forfeited (Article 611g).
- Bankruptcy: no penalty payments can be forfeited during the bankruptcy of the defendant, and penalty payments forfeited before the bankruptcy cannot be claimed in it (Article 611e).
- Impossibility: if compliance becomes impossible, the defendant can ask the court to lift, suspend or reduce the penalty payment, but not for penalties already forfeited before that (Article 611d).
- Enforcement disputes: a party who disputes whether penalty payments were forfeited can start enforcement proceedings (executiegeschil), also in kort geding; the judge can suspend enforcement (Article 438(2)-(3)).
If you are the defendant, keep evidence that you complied with the order. The claimant can start collecting penalty payments without a new court decision, and you will then have to challenge this yourself.
What happens before the hearing?
Pre-trial proceedings in Dutch courts involve a variety of procedures, which must be followed by both parties. A Dutch litigation attorney will assist with the steps necessary to obtain or defend against an injunction:
- Gathering evidence and documents, such as contracts, correspondence and witness statements in writing.
- Sending a demand letter and, where possible, negotiating a settlement before starting court proceedings in the Netherlands.
- Considering a petition for prejudgment attachments in the Netherlands (also known as conservatory arrest or a freezing order) to secure a money claim.
- Requesting a hearing date and having the writ of summons served by a bailiff.
- Submitting exhibits to the court and the other party before the hearing, within the deadlines set by the court.
- Preparing the oral pleadings for the hearing, where both parties and their lawyers are heard.
A defendant usually has little time. It receives the summons a few days or weeks before the hearing and must then gather its evidence and prepare its defence. It can also bring a counterclaim.
How do you file a claim for an injunction?
In practice, a claim for an injunction follows these steps:
- Your lawyer drafts the writ of summons and asks the court for a hearing date (Article 254(2) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure).
- A bailiff serves the summons on the defendant. A defendant abroad is served according to the applicable EU or treaty rules, which takes extra time.
- Each claimant and each defendant that appears pays a court fee (griffierecht); in kort geding it is charged at the first hearing (Article 3(1) Court Fees Act in Civil Cases).
- At the hearing, both parties explain their positions. The judge often explores a settlement.
- The judge gives a judgment, usually within a few weeks after the hearing and sometimes on the spot.
Do you need a litigation attorney?
Yes, in most cases. Before the district court, a claimant can only litigate through a lawyer admitted to the Dutch bar (Article 79(2) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). In kort geding, a defendant may appear in person, but cannot be represented by someone who is not a lawyer (Article 255(1)). Before the subdistrict judge, parties may appear in person (Article 79(1)).
A foreign company that wants to obtain or resist an injunction in the Netherlands therefore usually needs a Dutch lawyer. Choose one with experience in urgent proceedings, because the timetable is short.
Can an injunction be appealed or modified?
Appeals and modifications of Dutch court orders are possible. In certain cases, the applicant may appeal a decision made by the court or ask for modification of an injunction issued in summary proceedings.
Either party can appeal to the court of appeal within four weeks of the judgment (Article 339(2) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). An appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court must be lodged within eight weeks: double the appeal period (Article 402(2)).
An appeal does not stop enforcement of a provisionally enforceable judgment. The defendant can ask the court of appeal to suspend enforcement (Article 351); in practice such a request only succeeds in exceptional cases.
A kort geding judgment does not bind the court in proceedings on the merits (Article 257). The losing party can therefore also start main proceedings to obtain a final ruling. A defendant who did not appear and was judged in default can file an objection (verzet) with the interim relief judge (Article 259).
Which defences can you raise?
A defendant in kort geding can raise several defences:
- No urgency: for example because the claimant waited months before taking action, or because the problem will not get worse during proceedings on the merits (Article 254(1)).
- Claim not plausible: the defendant shows that a court in main proceedings would probably reject the claim.
- Case not suitable for kort geding: the dispute depends on facts that require witness hearings or expert evidence; the judge then refuses the measure (Article 256).
- Balance of interests: the injunction would harm the defendant far more than it would help the claimant.
- Security: if the injunction is granted, the defendant can ask the judge to make provisional enforcement conditional on the claimant providing security (Article 233(3)).
The judge decides on the basis of the documents and what is said at the hearing. Extensive evidence proceedings do not take place in kort geding.
How do IP injunctions and ex parte orders work?
For intellectual property rights such as trademarks, copyrights, patents and designs, the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure contains special rules. In urgent cases, in particular where delay would cause irreparable harm, the interim relief judge can issue an order without summoning the alleged infringer (an ex parte order) to prevent an imminent infringement (Article 1019e(1) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). The judge can require the applicant to provide security (Article 1019e(2)), and the alleged infringer can ask the same judge to review the order in kort geding (Article 1019e(3)).
Outside IP cases, the defendant is normally summoned and heard before an injunction is granted. If you need to act without warning to secure a money claim, a prejudgment attachment (Article 700) is the usual route.
What does an injunction procedure cost?
Each party pays its own lawyer and a court fee. A claim for an injunction is usually a claim of indeterminate value. In 2026, the court fee for such a claim at the district court is €735 for a legal entity and €341 for a natural person; at the subdistrict court it is €139 and €93 (Court Fees Act in Civil Cases, table). If you also claim an advance payment, the fee depends on the amount claimed.
The losing party is ordered to pay the legal costs (proceskosten) of the other party (Article 237(1) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). These are normally fixed amounts that cover only part of the actual lawyer’s fees. In proceedings to enforce intellectual property rights, the losing party can be ordered to pay the reasonable and proportionate costs actually incurred, unless fairness requires otherwise (Article 1019h).
Frequently asked questions about injunctions in the Netherlands
What happens if you do not comply with a Dutch injunction?
The penalty payment (dwangsom) set by the court is forfeited, but only after the judgment has been served (Article 611a(3) Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). The claimant can then collect it under the same judgment, for example by attaching bank accounts (Article 611c). Dutch law has no “contempt of court”; the penalty payment is the main pressure tool. The claimant can also claim damages.
How quickly can you get an injunction in the Netherlands?
The judge sets the hearing date according to the urgency of the case, if necessary on a Sunday (Article 254(2)). In practice, a hearing often takes place within a few weeks, and in very urgent cases within days. In IP cases, an ex parte order without hearing the other party is possible (Article 1019e).
Can a penalty payment be attached to an order to pay money?
No. A penalty payment cannot be imposed with an order to pay a sum of money (Article 611a(1)). A money order is enforced directly, for example by attachment of assets.
Is a kort geding judgment final?
No. It is a provisional decision that does not prejudice the main proceedings (Article 257). Either party can start proceedings on the merits. In IP cases, the measure can lose its effect if the claimant does not start main proceedings within the time limit (Article 1019i).
How long do you have to appeal a kort geding judgment?
Four weeks from the date of the judgment (Article 339(2)). An appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court must be lodged within eight weeks (Article 402(2)).
Primary sources
- Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering): Articles 79, 233, 237, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 339, 351, 402, 430, 438, 611a, 611b, 611c, 611d, 611e, 611g, 700, 1019e, 1019h and 1019i
- Court Fees Act in Civil Cases (Wet griffierechten burgerlijke zaken): Article 3 and table (2026 amounts)
- Supreme Court 28 May 2004, ECLI:NL:HR:2004:AP0263 (money claims in kort geding)
Dutch lawyer for injunction proceedings
As a Dutch litigation lawyer, I assist foreign and Dutch businesses in obtaining and defending against injunctions, from the first demand letter to enforcement and appeal. An injunction is often the quickest way to stop an infringement or a breach of contract, but its success depends on urgency and good preparation.
I hope that this article has provided you with a better understanding of injunctions in the Netherlands so that you can make informed decisions about moving forward with your own unique case. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly if I can provide any additional assistance along the way!
