Hof van Holland
It should not be confused with the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland which was the supreme court, founded in 1582 by the States-General of the Netherlands and intended for the entire Dutch Republic.
The Hof was in practice the main Appellate court in Holland and Zeeland, and in number of cases-handled the most important in the entire Dutch Republic (in comparison to the sister-provincial courts like the Hof van Friesland) and its Precedents played an important role in the development of Roman-Dutch law, which is still influential in Southern Africa.
[2] The Hof was constituted by Duke Philip the Good, in his capacity of new Count of Holland and Zeeland on 3 July 1428 (on the basis of the Treaty of Delft) as his "High Council" to govern the counties, together with his Stadtholder.
This was first formalised by the Instructie (Instruction) of 1462, given by Philip's son Charles of Charolais, that formally governed the jurisdiction, competence and composition of the court.
The 1531 Instruction remained more or less in force (with small amendments) until the court's dissolution in 1811, despite the fact that after the Act of Abjuration of 1581 (when Philip II of Spain was formally deposed as Count Philip III of Holland and Zeeland) the sovereignty of the count was taken over by the States of the two counties (now sovereign provinces in a confederacy).
When the Kingdom of Holland (which had succeeded the Batavian Republic in 1806) was annexed to the French Empire in 1810 all such provincial Courts of Justice were abolished as of January 1, 1811.
The Hof therefore continued hearing cases that formally belonged to the Hoge Raad which caused some competition between the two courts.
A case was initiated by a petition for a mandement van dagvaarding (writ of civil summons) by an impetrant (plaintiff).
This was executed by a deurwaarder (bailiff) to summon the gedaagde (defendant) to appear on a specific date at the audience, where the sollicitor of the plaintiff handed over a conclusie van eis (comparable to a complaint) as the first pleading.
These four pleadings could be augmented by other documents of all kinds after special petitions (rekest civiel) from the parties had obtained leave to do this.
At a certain point there were no more documents to exchange and parties would enter a final pleidooi (closing argument) and ask for justice in a conclusie in rechte.
If the parties contradicted each other on the facts the court could order an enqueste (evidentiary hearing) before a commissaris (one of the councillors appointed as commissioner).
The resistance took the form of protests to county officials, called valsschelden van vonnissen, or faussement de jugement (appeal to falsity of the verdict), on the ground that the judges had been corrupt, the law had been misinterpreted, or there had been mistakes in the procedure.
Such appeals were formally lodged by county officials (in the interest of the law) and could result in a quashing of the verdict and a fine for the offending judge.
The development was different in Zeeland where people at first had a provincial appellate court in the form of the Hoge Vierschaar.
Appel (comparable to interlocutory appeal) was an immediate review, even before the final verdict, from any kind of decree of a lower court.
After 1572 (when the members of the Hof briefly fled to Utrecht, because of the start of the Dutch Revolt), the Prince of Orange as rebel-stadtholder formally took over the chairmanship.
After 1578 the total number of members of the court was 12: three for Zeeland (for the cities of Middelburg, Veere and Vlissingen) and eight (plus the president) for Holland (of which two for the ridderschap).
