Exhibitieplicht
Duty to exhibit documents
The statutory obligation to produce certain documents upon request by the opposing party in civil proceedings.
The duty to produce documents means that a party to judicial proceedings may be required to produce or hand over documents or other items of evidence to the opposing party or the court. This obligation is set out in Article 843a of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure and applies where the documents are relevant to the proceedings and the requesting party has a legitimate interest in their disclosure.
The provision is intended to prevent a party from withholding evidence that is material to the establishment of the facts. In practice, the duty to produce documents is frequently invoked in contractual disputes, liability claims and family law proceedings involving documents such as contracts, correspondence or financial records.
Where a party fails to comply, the court may impose a penalty or take the refusal into account in its assessment of the evidence.
“The plaintiff's counsel has placed the defendant in default for failing to comply with the obligation to produce documents relating to the underlying purchase agreement.”
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