Partial dispute procedure: faster settlement of personal injury or death damage possible

Ministry of Justice 16 December 2009

There will be easy and quick access to court if parties in an injury or death case cannot settle the matter themselves due to disagreements over a partial dispute. The Senate has agreed to a bill to this effect by minister Hirsch Ballin.

This bill will enter into force on 1 April 2010. It concerns the so-called partial dispute procedure. The court ruling allows parties to resume negotiations and further finalise the damage outside the court.

Settlement of personal injury and death claims often takes a long time due to differences of opinion on the many questions that need to be answered. Disagreement over one or more such partial disputes can cause parties to lose sight of the heart of the matter, leading to deteriorating relations and delaying the settlement of damages.

The bill allows both the person suffering personal injury (or the next of kin of a death injury victim) and the person held liable for it to submit a question to the court in the extrajudicial negotiation phase. The parties can also do so jointly. The court may then be asked to decide on part of the dispute on liability for death or injury damages. The decision in partial dispute proceedings is not subject to appeal.

Personal injury lawyers welcome the new regulation. Now, if a personal injury lawyer wants to take only one aspect in a case to court, he still often takes the whole problem to himself. Moreover, a verdict often follows only after several years. The settlement also makes it possible to recover actual legal costs. Currently, in legal proceedings, there is only a claim to a lump-sum reimbursement of legal costs which is a fraction of the actual costs. This scheme will make it possible to recover the full legal costs, thus increasing access to justice.

Tip: Ask (possibly as a second opinion) the lawyers at Arbeidsletsel Advocaten whether it makes sense to present a case in partial dispute proceedings.

Labour Injury Lawyers wishes you a healthy and prosperous 2010!