With the appointment of fifteen new judges, the court now has 45 judges, while according to an international standard, there is still a shortage of fifteen judges.

Rasoelbaks made the announcement on Friday during the opening of the 2027 judicial year at the courthouse on Onafhankelijkheidsplein. He described the addition of fifteen judges as a significant strengthening of the judiciary. According to him, this will enable the court to handle more cases during the coming judicial year, contributing to timely and accessible justice.

The expansion is not intended solely to speed up the handling of cases. The court also wants to further decentralize and deconcentrate the administration of justice so that citizens in more parts of the country have access to the courts. In addition, if the proposals are approved by the legislature, the court wants to introduce panels of multiple judges at first instance for complex civil and criminal cases. Tax litigation is also to be introduced.

Despite the expansion, Rasoelbaks said that staffing levels remain below the international standard. He referred to a guideline based on approximately one judge per 10,000 inhabitants. Under current circumstances, this means that another fifteen judges would still need to be added.

There is a second problem as well: the aging of the judiciary. If the retirement age for judges is reduced to 65, ten judges would, according to the Court President, retire almost immediately. Only a transitional period could prevent this. Within ten years, virtually all of the current judges, with the exception of the fifteen newly appointed judges, would then leave the judiciary. If the retirement age remains at 70, Rasoelbaks said that twelve judges would nevertheless retire within five years. As a result, today's expansion could once again be partially undone over time.

To prevent the judiciary from losing capacity again and to avoid delays in the handling of cases, another four-year judicial training program must be conducted in 2027. Rasoelbaks expressed hope that the raio council will be able to select at least ten outstanding legal professionals. This makes staffing a structural challenge. The judiciary must not only address the current backlog and workload, but also anticipate the departure of experienced judges.

According to Rasoelbaks, strengthening the judiciary is therefore about more than simply appointing new judges. The organization of the justice system must also be adjusted to make effective use of the available capacity. In this context, the court intends, among other things, to establish a court organization and allow complex cases at first instance to be heard by multiple judges. At present, responsibility in many cases rests with a single judge. According to Rasoelbaks, this approach must be changed in cases involving major interests or substantial claims.

The Court President emphasized that the judiciary must continue in 2027 to work on independence, impartiality, integrity, expertise and professionalism. At the same time, speed and accessibility must be improved. The fifteen new judges provide additional capacity for this, but the figures make clear, according to the court, that strengthening the judiciary cannot be a one-time operation. Without continued new recruitment, the judiciary risks losing capacity again in the coming years.