The Maritime Disciplinary Court of the Netherlands
The Maritime Disciplinary Court of the Netherlands (Tuchtcollege voor de Scheepvaart) was established on 1 January 2010; from that day it has taken over the disciplinary task from the Dutch Maritime Court (Raad voor de Scheepvaart). The Court has its offices in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam, which is also where the public hearings take place. It consists of a chairman, two deputies and 34 (deputy) members. These members have or used to have a position in the maritime sector. If you click on "Chairman and members" you will see a list of the persons who are currently on the board. You can obtain information from the secretariat regarding extracurricular activities of the members of the Disciplinary Court.

Law
The Court operates mainly on the basis of Chapter 5 of the 'Wet bemanning zeeschepen' (Seagoing Vessel Manning Act). 
Subject to disciplinary jurisdiction in maritime shipping are ship's officers (captains, navigation officers, marine engineers, maritime officers and radio operators) of ships sailing under the Dutch flag.

Plaint and petition
The Disciplinary Court deals with cases on the basis of complaints, which can be submitted to the Court by interested parties by means of a plaint. Whether or not a complainant is justified to consider himself as an interested party will be decided by the court. Interested parties could be, for instance, crew members, ship owners and insurers. You can download a plaint form, including a separate guideline on how to complete it, by clicking on "plaint".

In addition, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management can bring a case before the Court by submitting a petition.

The criterion for whether or not a disciplinary measure will be pronounced is whether the the relevant ship's officer has acted (or has failed to act) in contravention of the care he should observe as a good seaman with regard to crew and passengers, the ship, the cargo, the environment or shipping.

Disciplinary Measures
The following disciplinary measures can be pronounced: a warning, a reprimand, a fine, or a suspension of the shipping permit for a period of no more than two years.

Rulings
The decisions of the Disciplinary Court are published anonymously on this website. It can also be found in Dutch on www.tuchtcollegevoordescheepvaart.nl.

Procedure
When you click on "procedure"  you will find a concise summary of how the Maritime Disciplinary Court of the Netherlands operates. Here you will be offered the opportunity to download a document to see how the procedures of the Maritime Disciplinary Court of the Netherlands are regulated by law.

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