As in the case of the Dr H.P. Heineken Prize, the selection of winners for the Dr A.H. Heineken Prizes has been entrusted to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Academy's Arts and Sciences Divisions have appointed special committees to carry out this task. These guidelines prescribe the composition and chairmanship of the committees as well as the description of the winners' achievements. Both members and non-members of the Academy are eligible for election to these comittees, but each chairman must be a member of the respective division's board.
Members serve for a term of six years.
The winners of the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Art are chosen by an independent jury. Three individual members of the Academy, acting in a personal capacity, form the core of the jury.