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Dutch Law MCP Server

Provides access to Dutch statutes, court decisions, kamerstukken, and EU cross-references for research and citation.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansvar-systems-dutch-law-mcp": {
      "url": "https://dutch-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "DUTCH_LAW_DB_URL": "<DUTCH_LAW_DB_URL>",
        "DUTCH_LAW_DB_PATH": "<DUTCH_LAW_DB_PATH>"
      }
    }
  }
}

You can access the Dutch Law MCP Server to perform fast, offline-capable legal research across Dutch statutes, court decisions, and EU cross-references. It provides structured access to thousands of statutes and judgments, enabling efficient citation, search, and analysis for academic, professional, or personal legal research.

How to use

You can connect to the server either remotely via the hosted endpoint or locally by running the MCP server on your machine. Use the remote URL for instant access without installation, or run a local instance with Node.js to keep everything self-contained.

Remote access lets you query the server from your preferred MCP client using the public endpoint. Local access lets you run the MCP server on your computer and connect to localhost.

If you prefer to run locally, you can use npx to start the server. This starts a self-hosted instance that caches the database locally for fast lookups.

Remote connection (HTTP)

Use the hosted MCP endpoint directly from your MCP client. The endpoint is ready to use with no local installation.

{
  "type": "http",
  "name": "dutch-law",
  "url": "https://dutch-law-mcp.vercel.app/mcp",
  "args": []
}

Local connection (stdio)

Run the MCP server locally using npx. This starts a self-contained instance on your machine.

{
  "type": "stdio",
  "name": "dutch-law",
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "@ansvar/dutch-law-mcp"]
}

Connecting with clients

After you have the server available, configure your MCP client with the appropriate server entry. For example, in Claude Desktop, add a MCP server with the http or stdio configuration shown above. In GitHub Copilot, point the MCP URL to the remote endpoint or provide the local command for the stdio method if your workflow supports it.

What you get from the server

Access to 3,248 Dutch statutes, 903,000+ court decisions, 21,891 kamerstukken, and 1,008 EU documents, with EU cross-references and provision-level text. You can search statutes, retrieve specific provisions, verify current validity, format citations, and build research bundles that combine statutes with case law and preparatory works.

Data sources and scope

Data is sourced from official Dutch and EU open data portals and stored in a local SQLite database to enable fast offline lookups. The main sources include wetten.overheid.nl for Dutch statutes, rechtspraak.nl for court decisions, and EUR-Lex for EU documents.

Security and privacy notes

If you are handling privileged information, consider running the server on-premises or in a trusted environment. When deployed publicly, review access controls and ensure TLS is used for all connections. For sensitive deployments, consult appropriate confidentiality obligations.

Troubleshooting

If startup fails, verify the database path is correct and accessible. If HTTP clients fail to reach the server, confirm the MCP endpoint path and session handling. If results are empty, ensure the dataset has loaded successfully and try a simple search to confirm data availability.

Data coverage and formats

The MCP server covers statutes, provisions, case law, kamerstukken, EU documents, and defined terms, with standard formats for statute articles and court citations to support consistent research workflows.

Notes on usage with clients

When using a remote endpoint, you do not need local dependencies. When using a local stdio configuration, the command and arguments must be exactly as shown to ensure the client can start and communicate with the server.

Available tools

search_legislation

Full-text search across Dutch statutes and regulations (FTS5-indexed)

get_provision

Retrieve a specific provision by BWB-ID, book, and article (e.g., Art. 6:162 BW)

search_case_law

Search Dutch court decisions with filters for court, legal domain, and date range

get_preparatory_works

Get kamerstukken (parliamentary documents) for a statute

validate_citation

Validate Dutch legal citations and check database existence

build_legal_stance

Build comprehensive research bundles combining statutes, case law, and travaux

format_citation

Format citations to standard Dutch legal citation format

check_currency

Check whether a statute or provision is currently in force (geldend recht)

get_eu_basis

Get EU legal basis (directives/regulations) for a Dutch statute

get_dutch_implementations

Find Dutch statutes implementing a given EU directive or regulation

search_eu_implementations

Search EU instruments and their Dutch implementations

get_provision_eu_basis

Get EU references for a specific provision

validate_eu_compliance

Validate EU compliance for a Dutch statute or provision

get_provision_at_date

Retrieve a specific provision as it was at a given date (historical versioning)