Supreme Court of the Netherlands

Supreme Court of the Netherlands
Hoge Raad der Nederlanden
Hoge Raad, Lange Voorhout, The Hague
Established	1 October 1838
Country	Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Aruba
Location	The Hague, Netherlands
Coordinates	52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250Coordinates: 52°5′0.52″N 4°18′41.85″E / 52.0834778°N 4.3116250°E / 52.0834778; 4.3116250
Composition method	Selected by the House of Representatives on advice of the Supreme Court and appointed by royal decree.
Authorized by	Constitution of the Netherlands Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Judge term length	Life tenure with mandatory retirement at the age of 70.
No. of positions	Varies (currently 36)
Website	www.hogeraad.nl
President of the Supreme Court
Currently	Maarten Feteris
Since	1 November 2014

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Dutch: Hoge Raad der Nederlanden pronounced [ˈɦoːɣə raːdɛr ˈneːdərlɑndə(n)], literally "High Council of the Netherlands") is one of the highest courts of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and sits in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Court has exclusive final jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters. In certain administrative cases it has final jurisdiction as well, while in other cases this jurisdiction rests with the adjudicative division of the Council of State, the Central Appeals Tribunal (Centrale Raad van Beroep), the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (College van Beroep van het bedrijfsleven) as well as judicial institutions in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Court is a court of cassation, which means that it has the competence to quash or affirm rulings of lower courts, but no competence to re-examine or question the facts. It only considers whether the lower courts applied the law correctly and the rulings have sufficient reasoning. In so doing it establishes case law. According to Article 120 of the Constitution, courts may not rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by the States General and treaties. With the exception of constitutional Court of Sint Maarten courts (which rules on constitutionality with regards to the Sint Maarten constitution only) have thus no competence for judicial review with respect to the Constitution.