One or more general exception are needed to organise exception handling in the application.

Option 1: GeoNetworkException extends java.lang.RuntimeException This is a non checked exception.

• Advantage: less boilerplate code
• Disadvantages: requires well tested code

Option 2: GeoNetworkException extends java.lang.Exception This is a checked exception. Users of api's who can throw this exception need code to catch the exception.

• Advantage: it is explicit which exceptions can be thrown
• Disadvantages: code gets dirty with try catches

Chosen option 1: The application is well unit tested. It is important that the code remains clean.