Claims alleged wrongful conduct in vaccine deployment/safety

Seven Dutch plaintiffs filed a civil lawsuit (not criminal) in the District Court of Northern Netherlands (location: Leeuwarden) against Gates and 16 other defendants.

The plaintiffs allege that Gates and the others "misled them … by inducing them to have COVID-19 injections which the defendants knew, or at least should have known, were not safe and effective."

Gates objected to the court’s jurisdiction on the basis that he resides in the United States (and is not resident in the Netherlands).

On 16 October 2024, the court ruled that it does have international jurisdiction over Gates. The court found that because one of the other defendants (domiciled in the Netherlands) falls under its jurisdiction and the claims against all defendants form part of the same "complex of facts", the court may extend jurisdiction to Gates under Article 7(1) of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure.

The court ordered Gates to pay legal costs of €1,406 (approx USD 1,500) as the losing party in the jurisdiction dispute.

Although the court ruled it has jurisdiction, this is a procedural decision about jurisdiction, not a finding of liability on the merits of the claim.