Overheidsaansprakelijkheid in Engeland en Nederland

Abstract

This thesis seeks to explore the landscape of state liability in England and the Netherlands. The history of state liability in the two countries is first told from a constitutional law perspective. Then two maps are drawn: one of English and one of Dutch law. Finally, a panorama of state liability emerges. Neither the private nor the public law perspective has been excluded from this thesis, which poses three major questions. First, which are the constitutional preconditions for state liability? Secondly, what strikes one most when the maps of the positive law on state liability in England and the Netherlands are compared, side by side? Thirdly, to what extent may the substantive law on state liability in England and the Netherlands converge under European influence? State liability is studied at four distinct levels. The first is constitutional in nature. It is about the state, its organisation and most particularly its subordination to the law. The second is that of the legal protection offered when public authorities overstep their constitutional powers. At the third level are drawn the general lines of the substantive law on state liability. The fourth level is the most concrete: it is that of the case law.