Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI)

Designing justice

Procedural administrative law in a constitutional comparative law perspective

This research deals with the constitutional basic principles of the Dutch system of legal protection against public authorities. This system is currently under pressure: in cases like the carbon dioxide emissions problem and the child benefits scandal, more and more is expected of the administrative courts in providing solutions to broad social issues as well as giving tailor-made decisions in individual cases. Developing the system to make it future-proof requires an integral approach to possible adjustments to procedural law (such as appeals against rules) and the constitutional position of the courts. This research aims to better understand the institutional design of the Dutch system and to develop it by comparisons with three countries: The United States, Germany and South Africa.