Do you have interest in becoming a lawyer from a renowned country? Are you seeking for how to become a lawyer in Netherlands? Are you a student trying to know about lawyer salary in Netherlands? Have you surfed the internet for Netherlands bar association and you still have no absolute answers? Worry not, the site will lay out answers for you within a nick of time.

The Netherlands is a great place to live, work, and study if you are a lawyer. The country’s economy is strong and growing every year, and it has a population of 17 million people.

The Netherlands also has a unique judicial system that distinguishes it from other European countries. It is known for its commitment to democracy and equality before the law.

The Dutch legal system is based on Roman law, which means that most cases are decided by judges rather than juries. In addition, Dutch judges are empowered to make decisions on their own without consulting with other judges or attorneys. This allows them to make decisions quickly and efficiently without having to wait for input from others who may not be familiar with the particular case at hand.

The legal profession in the Netherlands offers many opportunities for those interested in pursuing careers as lawyers or paralegals (legal assistants). There are more than 30 law schools throughout the country offering formal training programs that lead towards earning your degree in law (LLM) or becoming an attorney (MBA).

How To Become A Lawyer In Netherlands

The Dutch legal system is one of the best performing and most democratic in the world according to the Rule of Law Index, a global comparison of 97 national legal systems (published October 2012). In this index, developed by non-profit organization The World Justice Project (WJP), the Netherlands scored an extra high index on the functioning of the civil law and the transparency of the government. On both aspects, the Netherlands finished second within the 97 legal systems examined.

The Hague is called the legal capital of the World and is home to many international courts: including the International Court of Justice; the Permanent Court of Arbitration; the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal; the Special Tribunal for Lebanon; the European judicial and police organizations Eurojust and Europol; the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW); and the International Criminal Court. The Dutch security policy is based primarily on membership in NATO, which the Netherlands joined as a charter member in 1949.

The Netherlands is one of the founding members of the European Union and has a long educational tradition in this field of Law.

Dutch foreign policy is geared to promoting a wide variety of goals: the rule of law, human rights, and democracy. Priority is given to enhancing European integration, ensuring European security and stability (mainly through the mechanism of NATO and by emphasizing the important role the United States plays in the security of Europe), and participating in conflict management and peacekeeping missions.

How To Become A Lawyer In The Netherlands

Studying Law in English in The Netherlands

1. Will my law degree from a Dutch university be recognised in the UK?

If you study law in the European Union then your degree will be recognised. BUT, if you study law abroad it is unlikely that you will study English law. If you wish to practise law in the UK you will probably need to do a conversion course on your return.

Increasingly, however, law graduates with knowledge and experience of International and European law are highly sought after.

2. Why study law in the Netherlands?

The Dutch legal system is one of the best performing and most democratic in the world according to the Rule of Law Index, a global comparison of 97 national legal systems (published October 2012). In this index, developed by non-profit organization The World Justice Project (WJP), the Netherlands scored an extra high index on the functioning of the civil law and the transparency of the government. On both aspects, the Netherlands finished second within the 97 legal systems examined.

The Hague is called the legal capital of the World and is home to many international courts: including the International Court of Justice; the Permanent Court of Arbitration; the Yugoslavia War Crimes Tribunal; the Special Tribunal for Lebanon; the European judicial and police organizations Eurojust and Europol; the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW); and the International Criminal Court. The Dutch security policy is based primarily on membership in NATO, which the Netherlands joined as a charter member in 1949.

The Netherlands is one of the founding members of the European Union and has a long educational tradition in this field of Law.

Dutch foreign policy is geared to promoting a wide variety of goals: the rule of law, human rights, and democracy. Priority is given to enhancing European integration, ensuring European security and stability (mainly through the mechanism of NATO and by emphasizing the important role the United States plays in the security of Europe), and participating in conflict management and peacekeeping missions.

3. Undergraduate opportunities to study law in the Netherlands

There are four undergraduate options for studying law in English in the Netherlands at the University of Groningen,  The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Maastricht University and Tilburg University. Entry requirements are relatively low in comparison with British law schools. However, this is likely to change in the next few years as competition for places increases.

1. University of Groningen

LLB International and European Law at University of Groningen is a 3-year bachelor programme focusing on the fields of international politics, law and justice. All basic law areas including private law, constitutional law and criminal law, are covered. In addition, European Union Law and Public International Law are studied in depth within the context of the basic law fields.

What’s unique?

Groningen’s LLB programme is unique within Europe. It also holds a compulsory semester of law courses abroad in year 3.

First year students are offered workshops ‘Starting your Academic Career’. This workshop offers a mentor-system in which a small group of 1st year students are supervised weekly by a senior student and this enables you to start up your studies within a supportive environment. 

And it’s worth adding …

The University of Groningen has a strong international profile with a classification in the top 100 of the Shanghai ARWU, the Times Higher Education (THE) and the QS World University ranking lists, the most influential ranking lists in the academic world.

After graduating …

Groningen graduates go on to work for international organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations drafting international laws and regulations, or working as legal or policy advisers.

After further postgraduate study Groningen graduates are qualified to work in diplomacy, as civil servants for national ministries, the EU, the UN or other international organizations, in non-governmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International or Greenpeace), in the international commercial sector (e.g. Unilever or Shell), or in academic teaching and research.

2. The Hague University of Applied Sciences

The Hague University of Applied Sciences also offer a 4-year International and European Law degree. The programme covers key aspects of International Law, European law, and national law in comparative perspective. More generally, it also looks at the wider principles and skills you need for a legal career – like listening, writing and presenting. 

What’s unique?

You couldn’t ask for a more inspiring setting to study in. The Hague is an International City of Peace and Justice, home of the International Criminal Court, War Crimes Tribunal, Europol, Permanent Court of Arbitration and The Hague Conference on Private International Law. This means there are great opportunities for work placements or traineeships.

Students and staff within the law faculty represent over 30 different nationalities. This means you’ll work in multicultural teams, learn to embrace various ways of thinking and develop your cultural awareness.

After graduating …

Hague graduates are well prepared for a wide variety of international careers in international, multinational or governmental organisations, firms or NGOs. With its strong focus on legal training in an international environment, the programme will boost your ability to analyse legal problems from an international perspective and help you embrace new ways of critical thinking.

3. Tilburg University

The Bachelor of Global Law at Tilburg University offers a unique learning experience. This challenging programme is taught by leading researchers, at one of the largest research faculties for law in the Netherlands.

A limited amount of students are admitted each year and this makes for an ambitious and energetic class environment. The programme has a strong interdisciplinary component, which means it allows students to integrate knowledge from different fields (like economy and sociology) and see the bigger picture. Law is studied from a transnational perspective, allowing you to oversee legal issues in a way that is not limited by one single legal system.

What’s unique?

Global Law provides a new point of view when it comes to law: it puts “global” before “local”. Global Law goes beyond the limits of one jurisdictional system and allows you to integrate knowledge from different research fields when you tackle an assignment. These skills are essential when you work in an organisation where legal cases can involve a range of different jurisdictions, perspectives and solutions.

After graduating …

Graduates from the program can apply directly for functions in international organisations, in the public sector or in academia. 

4. Postgraduate opportunities to study law in the Netherlands

Below are a selection of postgraduate law opportunities in the Netherlands. You will find more on our Masters Course Search database.

The LLM programme in European Law at the Radboud University is primarily designed for students who wish to develop their understanding and knowledge of European Union law with the intent of pursuing a legal career with a strong international dimension. This Master’s offers you a thorough education in European law, including competition law, immigration law, external relations law, judicial protection, human rights law and public international law.

With international and European law exerting an increasing influence on the contents of national legal systems, expertise in this area is becoming sought-after by both private and public organizations. Tilburg University’s LLM in International and European Public Law (IEPL) deals with the interplay between national, international and European Union law – focusing on the manifold ways in which the laws emanating from international organizations are influencing the legal developments within national states.

As a student of the LLM in Public International Law at the University of Groningen you enjoy great freedom to design your own programme. You can choose from a wide range of optional courses in International Law, such as Economic Law, Peace and Security, Environmental Law and Humanitarian Law. Moreover, there are 35 courses in other areas of law from which you can choose, including Comparative Law and Sociology of Law.

VU University of Amsterdam’s one-year Master’s programme in Law and Politics of International Security aims at transferring to students the knowledge, skills and insight necessary to operate as a professional or academic researcher in the area of international peace of security. Issues of international peace and security are becoming increasingly important in legal, political and administrative practice. The concept of ‘international security’ is no longer confined to traditional issues of war and peace, but now also covers topics such as terrorism, criminal law, the protection of human rights and ‘human security’.

The MSc in Victimology and Criminal Justice at Tilburg University is the only Master’s programme in Europe and one of a handful of programmes worldwide, focusing on victimology. Victimology can be considered the younger sister of criminology. Its object of study is the position of victims in society. Drawing upon the insights offered by law, psychology, criminology and other social sciences, victimologists look at the consequences of becoming a victim of crime, accidents or disasters with the ultimate aim of setting people on the path to recovery and restoration.

Why do witnesses of a crime remember the colour of the perpetrator’s coat differently? How can countries work together to fight crimes? In this degree you will learn all about these sorts of issues.

Crime is of all times and all places. But the nature of crime changes over time. More options are available to people as technology evolves and travelling the world becomes easier. Countries need to work together to fight transnational crime. This can lead to a clash of different legal regimes.

This LLM programme in Global Criminal Law at the University of Groningen will provide you with some insight into these and many other issues.

Tilburg University’s LLM in Law and Technology offers students the chance to develop cutting-edge and interdisciplinary expertise within the burgeoning field of technology regulation. Strongly multidisciplinary and incorporating both European and international law, the masters in Law and Technology offers you the chance to develop both multidisciplinary knowledge and an area of specialised expertise within the field of Law and Technology – giving you more options to pursue the career of your choice.

The LLM in Commerical Law – specialisation in Commercial and Company Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam provides you with a unique combination of specialist courses in the field of company and commercial law, the impact of EU legislation and general courses in European Private Law and comparative private law.

The LLM programme in Commercial Law – specialisation Maritime and Transport Law, also at Erasmus University Rotterdam,  gives you a unique opportunity to obtain the legal know-how, the skills and practical experience needed for a career in maritime and transport law.

5. Does it make sense to study law abroad?

If you are interested in: 

• law with a local or national focus it may not make sense to study abroad. If you study law abroad it is unlikely that you will study English law. If you wish to practise law in the UK you will probably need to do a conversion course on your return. If you are interested in studying English law abroad, this currently is not possible.
• commercial law you would be well advised to consider international experience as an integral part of your education. Understanding more than one legal system will stand you in good stead as you will be competing in an international job market when you graduate whether you like it or not.
• international criminal law or human rights law, for example, then you are well advised to go abroad to study. These branches of the law are international by their very nature and most of the institutions and organisations operating in these spheres are located outside this country.
• studying law but do not intend to work as lawyer then an understanding of comparative law will be very useful if you intend to work for a multinational organisation.

6. What else should I bear in mind?

For the reasons mentioned above, British universities have started to offer a number of law degrees that incorporate international experience. These might be viable alternatives to taking your full degree abroad.

3. Undergraduate opportunities to study law in the Netherlands

There are four undergraduate options for studying law in English in the Netherlands at the University of Groningen,  The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Maastricht University and Tilburg University. Entry requirements are relatively low in comparison with British law schools. However, this is likely to change in the next few years as competition for places increases.

1. University of Groningen

LLB International and European Law at University of Groningen is a 3-year bachelor programme focusing on the fields of international politics, law and justice. All basic law areas including private law, constitutional law and criminal law, are covered. In addition, European Union Law and Public International Law are studied in depth within the context of the basic law fields.

What’s unique?

Groningen’s LLB programme is unique within Europe. It also holds a compulsory semester of law courses abroad in year 3.

First year students are offered workshops ‘Starting your Academic Career’. This workshop offers a mentor-system in which a small group of 1st year students are supervised weekly by a senior student and this enables you to start up your studies within a supportive environment. 

And it’s worth adding …

The University of Groningen has a strong international profile with a classification in the top 100 of the Shanghai ARWU, the Times Higher Education (THE) and the QS World University ranking lists, the most influential ranking lists in the academic world.

After graduating …

Groningen graduates go on to work for international organisations such as the European Union and the United Nations drafting international laws and regulations, or working as legal or policy advisers.

After further postgraduate study Groningen graduates are qualified to work in diplomacy, as civil servants for national ministries, the EU, the UN or other international organizations, in non-governmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International or Greenpeace), in the international commercial sector (e.g. Unilever or Shell), or in academic teaching and research.

2. The Hague University of Applied Sciences

The Hague University of Applied Sciences also offer a 4-year International and European Law degree. The programme covers key aspects of International Law, European law, and national law in comparative perspective. More generally, it also looks at the wider principles and skills you need for a legal career – like listening, writing and presenting. 

What’s unique?

You couldn’t ask for a more inspiring setting to study in. The Hague is an International City of Peace and Justice, home of the International Criminal Court, War Crimes Tribunal, Europol, Permanent Court of Arbitration and The Hague Conference on Private International Law. This means there are great opportunities for work placements or traineeships.

Students and staff within the law faculty represent over 30 different nationalities. This means you’ll work in multicultural teams, learn to embrace various ways of thinking and develop your cultural awareness.

After graduating …

Hague graduates are well prepared for a wide variety of international careers in international, multinational or governmental organisations, firms or NGOs. With its strong focus on legal training in an international environment, the programme will boost your ability to analyse legal problems from an international perspective and help you embrace new ways of critical thinking.

Hear from current Hague Law students on the Law Faculty’s introductory video. 

3. Tilburg University

The Bachelor of Global Law at Tilburg University offers a unique learning experience. This challenging programme is taught by leading researchers, at one of the largest research faculties for law in the Netherlands.

A limited amount of students are admitted each year and this makes for an ambitious and energetic class environment. The programme has a strong interdisciplinary component, which means it allows students to integrate knowledge from different fields (like economy and sociology) and see the bigger picture. Law is studied from a transnational perspective, allowing you to oversee legal issues in a way that is not limited by one single legal system.

What’s unique?

Global Law provides a new point of view when it comes to law: it puts “global” before “local”. Global Law goes beyond the limits of one jurisdictional system and allows you to integrate knowledge from different research fields when you tackle an assignment. These skills are essential when you work in an organisation where legal cases can involve a range of different jurisdictions, perspectives and solutions.

After graduating …

Graduates from the program can apply directly for functions in international organisations, in the public sector or in academia. 

In contrast to the Netherland’s very progressive and liberal views on many legal controversies such as the legality of drugs, euthanasia or prostitution, the route to qualification represents deeply conservative characteristics. It commences with (1) the study of a three-year undergraduate law degree, which is then followed by (2) a Doctorate Degree or Master of Laws, and (3) a legal apprenticeship for another three years. Brief reference will also be made to the rules applying to non-domestic lawyers with a professional qualification in another European country who seek to qualify in the Netherlands.

Undergraduate Studies

For students aiming to qualify as an advocaat, it is mandatory to take on an undergraduate law degree at one of the nine law faculties that have the authority to confer a law degree/authorized to confer such a degree. Indeed the English concept of conversion courses, through which one may pursue the route to qualification without having studied law at undergraduate level, would seem very strange to a student educated in the Netherlands. The entry barriers for admission to a law faculty are low. There is no selection procedure for admission to law and the Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk oderwijs certificate is the only formal requirement to read law. Yet open admissions also mean that there tend to be high dropout and failure rates at Dutch law schools.

As to the general structure of the undergraduate law degree, the Netherlands has adopted, unlike Germany for example, the Bologna process; i.e. it has replaced the traditional doctoraal degree with a bachelor degree which must then be followed by postgraduate degree (see 2. below). Despite the changes that the Bologna process has brought, the legal education at university has retained many profoundly conservative elements.

Undergraduate courses tend to be taught in large classrooms by a professoriate with often relatively little experience of practising law (Dutch law professors are in fact permitted to practice law). Most of the modules are compulsory and teaching is focused on the doctrinal and theoretical aspects of the law. The latter point in particular, may be explained by the existence of the apprenticeship in law, which devotes much attention and teaching to practice and skills courses.

The Degree of Doctor or Master of Laws

Article 2 of the Advocatenwet, which was referred to above, states that to be eligible for the profession of the advocaat one has to have acquired a Degree of Doctor or Master in Law. The duration of a Degree of Doctor will very much depend on the academic ambition and goals of the individual pursuing it, but usually ranges somewhere between one and two years. On the contrary, the duration of Master in Law is usually fixed to one and, for some exceptional programmes, to two years.

During this stage of education, students are much less tied to compulsory modules, but can pursue their own interests and lay the foundation for a specialisation later on in their career. 

In accordance with Article 3 of the Advocatenwet, a student who has successfully completed both stages of university education may then apply to be sworn in by a judge of the district courts of the legal constituency where he holds office. However, membership at the Bar is only probationary at this stage. In order to rise to a fully-fledged member of the Dutch bar, the stagiare (trainee advocate) has to complete the apprenticeship in law.

The apprenticeship

The apprenticeship in law, whose formal origins date back to the Middle Ages, consists of three core elements: (1) Work in a law office under the supervision of a patroon (an admitted lawyer); (2) mandatory classroom courses during the first nine months of the apprenticeship, and (3) a selection of education courses during the last two years of the apprenticeship which the trainee advocates may select according to their interests and aimed specialisations.

The formal training courses during the apprenticeship have undergone significant reform over the past three decades in order to enable the trainees to put their skills into practice at an earlier stage of their training. The single most significant change – the creation of the Law Firm School in 2009 – to the formal training process during the apprenticeship has come from outside the influence of the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten. The 14 participating law firms set up a separate curriculum to the Bar’s training courses with the aim of providing a tool for more effective and practical-oriented training. The associates of those 14 firms have exclusive access to the Law Firm School, but are required to complete the ‘ordinary’ bar courses just like any other trainee advocate.

During the three-year period, the stagiare has to take a total of nine examinations which represent the equivalent to the Bar exams taken in other Member States of the European Union. 

After completion of the three-year practical training, the trainee advocates are granted permission to practice without any further exams or indeed any other means of testing. Membership of the national bar association is automatic and the route of qualification has officially come to an end.

European-qualified lawyers

The European Directive 89/48/EEC introduced a system for the recognition of higher educational diplomas awarded on completion of professional training for a duration of at least three years in any of the Member States of the European Union. In accordance with this directive, a legal professional who has obtained qualification in another Member State of the European Union is to be granted permission to practice law in the Netherlands, after he or she has successfully taken an aptitude-test.

If you want to become a lawyer in the Netherlands, you’ll need to earn a law degree. To do this, you’ll need to complete a bachelor’s degree program and pass the Dutch bar exam.

It’s important that you take classes in both civil and criminal law during your bachelor’s program. You should also take classes that focus on legal theory, international law and European Union law. Classes in international business are also recommended because they will help prepare you for an international career as a lawyer.

After earning your bachelor’s degree, you’ll be eligible to apply for admission into a master’s program at one of the six universities in the Netherlands that offer a master’s degree in Law (Mastersopleiding Rechtspraktijk). These programs typically take two years to complete and include both theoretical and practical training. Some universities offer an LLM or MA (Master of Arts) as an alternative to an LLM (Master of Laws).

To become licensed as a lawyer in the Netherlands, applicants must pass an examination known as “Theoretical Examination” (TOL-examen). This exam covers topics such as civil law, criminal law, family law and international law. Once they pass this exam