Law of the Netherlands

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The Netherlands uses civil law. The role of case law is small in theory, although, in practice, it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without considering the relevant case law. The Dutch law system is based on the French Civil Code with some influence from Roman-Dutch law (which it replaced) and pre-codal customary law. The German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch heavily influenced the new Civil Code (which went into force in 1992).

The primary law-making body is formed by the Dutch parliament in cooperation with the government, operating jointly to create laws that are commonly referred to as the legislature (Dutch: wetgever). The power to make new laws can be delegated to lower governments or specific organs of the State, but only for a prescribed purpose. A trend in recent years has been for parliament and the government to create "framework laws" and delegate the creation of detailed rules to ministers or lower governments (e.g., a province or municipality).

The Ministry of Justice and Security is the primary institution of Dutch law.