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Claim of documents



Preface


When it comes to collecting documents that are not available from the government, but from private parties, an appeal can be made to Article 843 of the Code of Legal Procedure (Article 843 DCCP).


This claim was also known as (an appeal to) the so-called "obligation to exhibit". On appeal, access, copy or an extract of documents may be requested (also electronic files such as e-mail and presentations) that the plaintiff does not have, but the defendant does (indirectly) directly possessed.


In most cases, the requirement applies that there is a legal relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. For those cases in which SOMI holds the parties liable for damage, it is therefore assumed that this basis was already present.



Purpose of invoking the obligation to exhibit



The purpose of invoking the obligation to exhibit included:



  • Better substantiation or expansion of new or existing claims;

  • Expanding the already known circle of stakeholders;

  • Limiting an appeal to exclusion of liability or grounds for debt exclusion by third parties.



What are we looking for?



For a claim to submit documents to the court to be successful, it must meet at least two requirements:



  • the claim must relate to documents that are sufficiently or specifically identified therein; and,

  • there must be a legitimate interest to request those documents.


As a starting point, it could be said that the requested documents must be related to the facts and events as included in our timeline.



Follow up


If you have information that can contribute to our archives, you can send it to us. You can add attachments in which the documents to be requested are sufficiently identified.


We compile a complete overview of documents for each party from which the information is being claimed, and submit these as a collective claim, on the behalf of everyone who is registered with SOMI. Where possible, we remove duplicate requests or supplement the overview based on our own inventory and information about the party(s) involved. We also ensure that all formal requirements are met and that, if necessary, objections are made to reject requests for information. When you indicate that there may be a risk that information may 'get lost', we can decide to request a 'seizure of evidence' on documents (Article 843a Rv).


All responses are published on the site. SOMI also publishes an overview of the most active and the most valuable contributions. Please indicate when you want to remain anonymous, if you want to contribute under an alias or when you have had incurred expenses because of your contribution.



Links


For information or sources, see (in Dutch):