As the government of the Netherlands is characterised by parliamentary sovereignty, the Supreme Court cannot overturn primary legislation made by the States-General.

[8] The development of cassation in the Netherlands was heavily influenced by the French during the Batavian Revolution at the end of the 18th century.

In November 1940 the German occupiers forced its president, Lodewijk Ernst Visser, to resign because he was Jewish.

[citation needed] Visser "repeatedly warned the Dutch authorities not to relinquish jurisdiction over Jewish citizens and residents, and not to allow their legal protection to be lifted.

The Court justified its stance because it wished to guarantee the continuity of its jurisdiction under the Nazi occupation and purportedly avoid involvement in politics.

[10] This was demonstrated in a so-called "Test sentence", (Supreme Court, 12 January 1942, NJ 1942/271), in which the Supreme Court ruled that a Dutch judge could not contest the decrees of the occupying force on the basis of international law, in particular the 1907 regulation prescribed for a country at war.

After the war, there was not much done to clear matters; lawyers who had collaborated with the Germans generally kept their jobs or got important other positions.

[10] The court was located at a corner of the Binnenhof complex from 1838 until 1864, before moving to a building in the Plein, dubbed het hondenhok ("the doghouse").

At this point, the Supreme Court moved to the Huguetan house at 34–36 Lange Voorhout, the previous home of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library of the Netherlands).

The members of the fourth division are chosen ad hoc, but will include the President of the Court.