The Law on Administrative Procedures in the Netherlands

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“…In 2007, a large scale study, including both research of the law and empirical research, evaluated the approaches followed by Dutch administrative courts to establish the facts in legal appeals (Barkhuysen et al, 2007). The researchers concluded that even though one may expect active administrative courts, given their independent responsibility to actively establish the facts and given their wide discretion in choosing investigatory powers granted by the General Administrative Law Act (Awb), in practice courts adopt a passive approach and make very limited use of options available to examine relevant facts.…”