On Feb. 27, 2024, the civil chamber of the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal handed down a ruling in a civil appeal of a criminal case involving the shock damage claim of the next of kin of a girl killed by two underage boys at the age of 14. The judgment is unusual and relevant to legal practice for a number of reasons.
- It is the first time a civil court has ruled on a shock injury claim under the Supreme Court's new regime since the Hoogeveen and Buterwei ruling;
- The court addresses whether or not the confrontation in the morgue was “unanticipated.” The court says something important about this:
“Even if the confrontation was not unexpected and they were prepared for the sight of their (dead) daughter and sister, their statements about what they saw and experienced show that they did not or could not have prepared for the shock of confrontation, quite apart from the question of whether that led to a different
reaction would have resulted, which, in the case of the parents, also factors in that all of this occurred within a time frame of less than 12 hours.”
- The court addresses the concur between the affection damage claims already awarded - and the shock damage claims and awards an amount of 20,000 euros p.p.
Arlette Schijns assisted the next of kin in the civil appeal. Ruth Jager assisted the next of kin in the criminal trial.