Hoofdelijke aansprakelijkheid

Joint and several liability is a statutory mechanism under which several persons are liable for the same obligation, enabling the creditor to demand full performance from any one of them. This differs from ordinary joint liability in that each debtor may be held liable for the entire obligation without the others first having to be pursued.

The regime is relevant because it strengthens the creditor’s position and facilitates the recovery of claims, for example in general partnerships, joint liability in tort or contractual suretyships. In practice, joint and several liability is often expressly agreed in contracts or arises directly from statute, such as under Article 6:102 of the Dutch Civil Code.