The Netherlands are a small country, but they have many laws. In handling them, Dutch lawyers tend to be pragmatic: they use them to solve problems, not to create additional ones. If they do create problems, they try to find a way around them. If must be, they ignore them. Only if even that meets with resistance, they change them. Because of its non-legalistic learnings, Dutch legal culture favoured a pragmatic public administration, a mild penal climate and an informal civil justice.
This book contains a `journey' through selected aspects of Dutch legal culture which is presented by comparing, the Court System, the Legal Profession, Informal Justice in Civil Courts, Criminal Policy and a very Dutch legal term `beleid'.