Rechtspraak (Dutch Case Law)

io.github.PrudaiPublished by GitHub account Prudaiv0.1.1Updated Oct 24, 2026

Dutch case law over MCP: search & fetch uitspraken by ECLI (Rechtspraak Open Data + LiDO)

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Overview

AI-generated overview

Local MCP server for Dutch case law: search rulings, fetch full text by ECLI, and explore the LiDO citation graph.

What you can do
  • Search Dutch rulings by date, court, legal area and document type, or look up a specific ECLI
  • Run several searches or fetch up to ten decisions by ECLI in one call
  • Retrieve full text, metadata and relations for a single decision
  • List value lists (courts, legal areas, procedure types) to build valid filters
  • Explore the LiDO citation graph around an ECLI: citing and cited decisions, statute references
When to use it
Useful when an assistant needs to find, quote or cross-check published Dutch court decisions, or trace how rulings cite each other, for legal research or citation-backed answers.
Requirements
Runs locally via npx (Node.js). No API key or account needed. Optional environment variables tune the upstream timeout, bulk concurrency, user agent, LiDO endpoint and a PrudAI viewer base URL. Network access to the Rechtspraak Open Data and LiDO services is required.
Before you install
Search is faceted rather than free-text, so keyword queries may return little; pass an ECLI for direct lookup. Results include links to a third-party PrudAI viewer, and the README asks agents to render citations as links to that site. The project is independent and not affiliated with de Rechtspraak or KOOP, and the README advises verifying results against the authoritative source.

Installation

In SourceWeft

  1. Open Rechtspraak (Dutch Case Law) in the dashboard and add it to a workspace.
  2. Enable the server for the chats that should use its tools.

Desktop only via STDIO. STDIO servers start a local process, so they need the SourceWeft desktop host.

Other MCP clients

Follow the launch instructions in the repository.

README

[rechtspraak-mcp]

rechtspraak-mcp

[npm] [CI] [license]

A Model Context Protocol server for Dutch case law (jurisprudentie / uitspraken). It wraps the official Open Data van de Rechtspraak API and the LiDO citation graph, so any MCP-capable agent (Claude, Cursor, …) can search rulings, fetch full text by ECLI, and explore how decisions cite each other.

No API key required.

bash
npx rechtspraak-mcp

Tools

ToolWhat it does
search_uitsprakenSearch case law (faceted by default; full-text behind a flag). Returns ECLIs + links.
search_uitspraken_bulkRun 3–10 searches at once.
get_uitspraakFetch full text + metadata + relations of one decision by ECLI.
get_uitspraken_bulkFetch up to 10 decisions by ECLI in one call.
list_waardelijstenList value lists (instanties, rechtsgebieden, proceduresoorten, …) to build valid filters.
lido_relatedLiDO citation graph around an ECLI: what cites it, what it cites, statute references.

Search

search_uitspraken is a faceted search over the official Open Data feed — filter by date, court (instantie), legal area (rechtsgebied) and document type. It does not do free-text keyword matching; pass an ECLI to query for a direct lookup, or use the facet filters. get_uitspraak fetches the full text and metadata from the documented Open Data content endpoint.

Install in an MCP client

Claude Code (or any client reading claude_desktop_config.json / .mcp.json):

json
{  "mcpServers": {    "rechtspraak": {      "command": "npx",      "args": ["-y", "rechtspraak-mcp"]    }  }}
bash
claude mcp add rechtspraak -- npx -y rechtspraak-mcp

Citations & source links

Every result carries links for its ECLI:

  • links.deeplink — the citation-stable deeplink.rechtspraak.nl URL,
  • links.rechtspraak — the human detail page,
  • links.prudai — a PrudAI viewer for the ruling.

When an agent quotes a passage, the tools instruct it to render the citation as a Markdown source link anchored on the exact excerpt:

[Zie bron](https://prudai.com/uitspraak/ECLI:NL:HR:2023:1234?quote=%22<verbatim quote>%22)

Configuration

Env varDefaultDescription
RECHTSPRAAK_HTTP_TIMEOUT_MS30000Upstream request timeout.
RECHTSPRAAK_BULK_CONCURRENCY4Concurrency for bulk tools.
PRUDAI_BASE_URLhttps://prudai.comBase URL for the viewer deeplinks.
RECHTSPRAAK_USER_AGENTrechtspraak-mcp/…User-Agent sent upstream.
LIDO_REST_ENDPOINTKOOP defaultOverride the LiDO service endpoint.
RECHTSPRAAK_DEBUG01 logs upstream requests to stderr.

Development

bash
bun installbun run typecheckbun testbun run build      # → dist/ (Node-runnable, shebang bundle)bun src/index.ts   # run from source

Data sources & disclaimer

Case-law data is © Rechtspraak and published as Open Data via data.rechtspraak.nl; citation-graph data comes from KOOP's LiDO service (linkeddata.overheid.nl). This project is an independent open-source client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by de Rechtspraak or KOOP. Always verify against the authoritative source before relying on a result.

License

MIT © PrudAI. Maintained by PrudAI.

Source: README.md at commit 58766b7

Tools

0
SourceWeft has not started this package in its sandbox yet, so its tools are not known.

Version history

1
  1. v0.1.1LatestSep 16, 2026

Score

50% of the applicable checks met

How complete this listing is, computed from the registry entry, the endpoint and public sources. Not a rating of the server and not a statement that it is safe or working today: reachability is a dated check, and no installs or reviews go into the score.

  • Reached in the last 30 days25 pts

    Keep the endpoint answering the MCP handshake; SourceWeft probes it every 30 days.

  • Auth declared10 pts

    Declare the credential headers in the registry entry, or keep the endpoint answering the probe so its auth can be classified.

  • Tools listed15 pts

    Answer tools/list without a credential, or ship a package that starts in a sandbox without one.

  • DescriptionRequired15 pts
  • Logo10 pts
  • Documentation15 pts
  • License10 pts