Case law
Reclame Code Commissie (SRC)
The Dutch Advertising Code Foundation has been the institute for advertising self-regulation in the Netherlands since 1963. It maintains the Dutch Advertising Code, against which the independent Advertising Code Committee tests complaints; its decisions can be appealed to the Board of Appeal. Self-regulation here means the industry sets and enforces its own rules, alongside rather than instead of legislation. The decisions are searchable on reclamecode.nl.
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What this source does not give you
This is self-regulation, not adjudication. The Committee imposes no fines, awards no damages and attaches no penalty payment to its findings: a well-founded complaint results in a recommendation to stop advertising in that way. An advertiser who ignores the recommendation is placed on the public non-compliant list and brought to the attention of regulators such as the Dutch consumer authority, but none of that produces an enforceable title.
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Dutch legal domains; each link opens the domain page on leo.prudai.com.
Frequently asked questions
- Is an Advertising Code Committee decision binding?
- Not in a legal sense. If the Committee upholds a complaint it issues a recommendation to the advertiser to stop advertising in the manner complained of. The foundation reports that over 96 percent of advertisers comply by amending or withdrawing the advertisement. Where the advertisement expresses an ideological position, the Committee issues non-binding advice rather than a recommendation.
- What happens if the advertiser ignores the recommendation?
- The foundation's compliance department tracks whether advertisers follow the recommendation. An advertiser counts as compliant once it returns a signed compliance form confirming the advertisement has been withdrawn or amended, or where it can be shown the advertisement is gone. If it does not respond or changes nothing, it is added to the non-compliant list; that list is public and is brought to the attention of regulators such as the Dutch consumer authority. Within the same calendar year an advertiser can be removed again by demonstrating compliance.
- What does filing a complaint cost?
- For consumers and non-profit organisations, filing is free in principle; putting a chair's dismissal before the full Committee costs 25 euro, and an appeal 50 euro. A complainant acting in a business capacity pays 1000 euro, reduced to between 250 and 500 euro for smaller enterprises and 100 euro for journalists; an appeal then costs 750 euro, or 375 euro for companies that contribute to the foundation.
- When does a decision appear online, and how long is the appeal window?
- The decision first goes only to the parties involved. The appeal window is fourteen days from the date of the decision, and seven days in expedited proceedings. Once that window closes without an appeal, the decision is published and made searchable on the website. Appeal proceedings are not separately announced. A decision generally follows within four weeks of the Committee hearing.
- What is an Alert?
- An Alert is the strongest form of publicity the Advertising Code Committee has. Where the circumstances of the case justify it, the Committee can instruct the secretariat to distribute the decision more widely, through a press release to media contacts and posting on reclamecode.nl. All decisions end up in the public database in any event; an Alert actively pushes one to a wider audience.