Although this sets out to be an annual survey, it may also include material which dates from a different parliamentary year from that given in the heading. This has proved to be inevitable in those cases when texts do not become available to the editor until long after their original date of drafting; written submissions to international organizations made by the Netherlands representatives frequently fall into this category.

Most of the information is derived from the Reports of Parliament which are available in Dutch on <www.overheid.nl/op/index.html>. The Yearbook surveys are also available in a consolidated way in a database on <www.asser.nl/pil/index.htm>.

The decisions in this survey are taken from the documentation system of the Public International Law Department of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, which now contains abstracts from approximately 6000 decisions dating from 1839 to the present day.*** Most of the texts are taken from various Reports and Journals, but the Institute also receives the texts of decisions involving questions of public international law directly from the Courts concerned by special agreement between the Institute, the Ministry of Justice, and the Courts. If the decision has not (yet) been published elsewhere, the source of the text is given as ‘Institute's Collection’ followed by the administrative sequence number.

Not all the decisions in the documentation system of the Institute are included in this survey. Some are left out because they contain very minor points of (international) law. Those decisions which are included are given either in an extensive form, with verbatim extracts from the judgment, or in a summarized form, depending on their relevance to international law.

A two-year period is covered by the survey, one year of which overlaps the period covered by the survey in last year's volume of the NYIL. This is made necessary by the fact that the text of the decisions is sometimes available only after a considerable time. This is also why, by way of exception, decisions are occasionally included although given at a time prior to the period covered by the survey.

The Yearbook surveys are also available in a consolidated way in a separate database on <www.asser.nl>

*** For the period covered updated by research associate L. Wannet.

This survey covers the treaties, international agreements, and other international instruments mentioned in the ‘Tractatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden’ – Treaty Series of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (abbr.: Trb.). Its purpose is to record the legal consequences of such agreements and instruments for the Netherlands, and Netherlands State acts in respect of them, such as signature, parliamentary approval, ratification, entry into force, provisional application, extension or limitation of territorial application, termination and abrogation. Signature by the Netherlands, however, is mentioned separately only if, in the case of multilateral treaties, such signature has taken place on a date different from the official date of conclusion of the treaty.

This survey is intended to provide information for international lawyers, both in the Netherlands and abroad, on literature on Dutch State practice in the field of public international law published in and outside the Netherlands mainly by Dutch authors. A few articles not meeting these criteria are also included.

This survey covers municipal regulations relevant to international law that could not be dealt with adequately in the State Practice section. Translations of all or part of the text are usually given, together with descriptive or analytical notes where appropriate.

The information is derived from the Staatsblad and Staatscourant which are available in Dutch on <www.overheid.nl/op/index.html>. The Yearbook surveys are also available in a consolidated way in a database on <www.asser.nl/pil/index.htm>.

Although this sets out to be an annual survey, it may also include material which dates from a different parliamentary year from that given in the heading. This has proved to be inevitable in those cases when texts do not become available to the editor until long after their original date of drafting; written submissions to international organizations made by the Netherlands representatives frequently fall into this category.

Most of the information is derived from the Reports of Parliament which are available in Dutch on <www.overheid.nl/op/index.html>. The Yearbook surveys are also available in a consolidated way in a database on <www.asser.nl/pil/index.htm>.

The decisions in this survey are taken from the documentation system of the Public International Law Department of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, which now contains abstracts from approximately 7000 decisions dating from 1839 to the present day.*** Most of the texts are taken from various Reports and Journals, but the Institute also receives the texts of decisions involving questions of public international law directly from the Courts concerned by special agreement between the Institute, the Ministry of Justice, and the Courts. If the decision has not (yet) been published elsewhere, the source of the text is given as ‘Institute's Collection’ followed by the administrative sequence number.

*** For the period covered updated by research associates R. Rootert and M. Simmer.

History and background of the comitology system in the European Union – The continuing problem of the involvement of the European Parliament – The new comitology decision of the Council of Ministers: introduction of a comitology procedure concerning ‘quasi-legislative measures’ – Genesis of the 2006 reform: negotiations within the Council and with the Parliament – Accompanying political declarations – Evaluation: a substantial shift in the relations between the institutions in relation to law-making.