As a suspect in the Netherlands you are never obliged to answer police questions about the offence, and you have the right to consult a lawyer before the interview and to have a lawyer present during it. The one thing you must do is state your identity and, from the age of 14, show a valid identity document.
Under Article 29(2) of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure (Wetboek van Strafvordering, Sv), the police must tell you before questioning that you do not have to answer. Everything beyond your identity is a choice, and it is best made after legal advice rather than during the interview. The decisions taken in the first hours after an arrest shape the file a court will read months later. Below we explain the timetable the police work to, what your rights cover, what is sensible to say, and what happens to the record of the interview afterwards.
What happens from the moment of arrest?
The police may arrest you if there is a reasonable suspicion that you committed a criminal offence. You are then taken to the station, where an assistant public prosecutor decides whether you will be held for investigation.
If someone is caught in the act (op heterdaad), anyone may arrest that person, but must hand him or her over to an investigating officer immediately. Outside that situation, an arrest is made by an investigating officer, in principle on the order of the public prosecutor or an assistant public prosecutor (hulpofficier van justitie), and only for offences for which pre-trial detention is permitted.
After the arrest, you are brought before the assistant public prosecutor. That officer decides whether the suspicion is lawful and whether you will be held for investigation (ophouden voor onderzoek). The police use that period for fingerprints, photographs, identification and the first interview.
How long can the police hold you?
You can be held for investigation for up to nine hours for an offence for which pre-trial detention is permitted, and up to six hours for other offences. The hours between midnight and 9 a.m. do not count, so an arrest late in the evening can mean a much longer stay at the station than those numbers suggest.
If more time is needed, and only for offences for which pre-trial detention is permitted, the public prosecutor or assistant public prosecutor can order police custody (inverzekeringstelling) for up to three days. The public prosecutor can extend it once by three days in case of urgent necessity. Within three days and fifteen hours of your arrest, you must be brought before the examining magistrate (rechter-commissaris). That judge assesses whether the custody is lawful and whether it should continue. This is also the first opportunity to ask for your release.
If detention continues, the examining magistrate can order remand in custody (bewaring) for up to fourteen days. After that, a full court chamber can order continued detention (gevangenhouding). The total period of pre-trial detention before the case must be heard in court is limited, and each stage is a separate decision that can be challenged. Our article on pre-trial detention in the Netherlands deals with the grounds and review points in detail.
Is an invitation for questioning the same as an arrest?
No. The police can also send you a written invitation to come in for questioning. You are not obliged to attend, and attending voluntarily does not remove any of your rights: the caution and the right to a lawyer apply in exactly the same way.
The practical difference is that an invitation gives you time. Use it to instruct a lawyer, find out what the suspicion is and decide on your position before you walk in, rather than under pressure. If you do not attend, the police may decide to arrest you instead, which is a reason to take advice rather than ignore the letter.
Which rights do you have as a suspect?
You have the right to remain silent, the right to a lawyer, the right to know what you are suspected of and the right to an interpreter. The police must inform you of these rights before questioning, and if you are detained you receive a written statement of your rights at the station.
- The right to remain silent: you do not have to answer questions, and the police must tell you so before the interview starts.
- The right to a lawyer: consultation before the interview and assistance during it, for every suspect, whatever the offence.
- The right to be told what you are suspected of, in terms you understand.
- The right to an interpreter if you do not speak Dutch well enough, and to a translation of essential documents.
- The right to have a family member or housemate informed of your detention and, for foreign nationals, to have your consulate informed.
- The right to inspect the case file, which you usually exercise through your lawyer.
Two of these rights are often misunderstood, so we explain them in more detail.
Legal assistance before and during the interview
Since 1 March 2017, following the EU directive on the right of access to a lawyer, every suspect may consult a lawyer before the first interview and have a lawyer present during it. If you are arrested for an offence for which pre-trial detention is permitted, a duty lawyer is called automatically. For lighter offences, you must ask. You can always instruct a lawyer of your own choice instead, which is worth doing if you already have one.
Adults can waive this right, but that is almost always a mistake. Minors cannot waive it: suspects under 18 must be assisted by a lawyer, and a parent or guardian must be informed of the detention. If you have asked for a lawyer, the interview should not start until you have had the consultation.
What must you answer? Your identity
The right to remain silent covers the offence, not your identity. Under Article 27a Sv, you must give your surname, first names, date and place of birth and address. From the age of 14, you must show a valid identity document when an investigating officer asks for it, under the Compulsory Identification Act (Wet op de identificatieplicht). Failing to show an identity document is a separate offence under Article 447e of the Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht, Sr), and if your identity cannot be established, you can be held longer. Giving false personal details is worse still, because that is a criminal offence in itself.
Everything else, such as where you were, who you were with, what you did or whether you know a particular person, falls within the right to remain silent. You may answer some questions and decline others, and you may start answering and then stop.
What does the right to remain silent really mean?
Nobody can force you to answer, and your silence can never be used as proof of guilt on its own. But if the evidence calls for an explanation and you give none, the court may take that into account when weighing all the evidence.
That is the position under the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and Dutch courts apply it. A conviction can never be based on silence alone. The practical conclusion is not that you should talk. It is that the choice is tactical and depends on what is in the file, which is exactly why you should make it with a lawyer who has seen the file, not alone in an interview room.
Silence at the first interview costs nothing. You can always make a statement later, and a considered written statement through your lawyer is often stronger than an improvised answer. The reverse is not true, because a statement once given stays in the file.
Officers may suggest that silence looks bad, that cooperation will help, or that others have already talked. Nobody at the station can promise you anything, and the sentence is not for them to decide. Plea bargaining in the American sense does not exist in the Netherlands. On the other hand, a suspect with a simple, innocent explanation may be well advised to give it early. There is no single right answer, only one that fits your case.
What should you keep in mind if you do make a statement?
Tell the truth, say only what you know and avoid speculation. Consistency matters more than completeness, because statements given on different days will be compared.
A demonstrably false account damages your credibility for the rest of the case and can itself lead to further charges. Say clearly when you do not know something. Do not speculate about what may have happened, do not fill gaps to seem helpful, and do not volunteer information about other people. That does not help you and may make you a witness as well as a suspect.
Inconsistency is the most common self-inflicted damage. Differences in times, places and order of events are used to test your credibility. Stress, fatigue and repeated questioning produce such differences without anyone lying. If you are exhausted, ill or unable to concentrate, say so and ask for a break. If you did not understand a question, say so rather than answering the question you think was meant.
Do not try to find out what others know by phoning people involved in the case. Communications may be intercepted, and contacting witnesses or co-suspects can support an argument that you might collude, which is one of the grounds for continuing pre-trial detention. Communication with your lawyer is confidential and is the safe route.
What does your lawyer do before the interview?
Your lawyer finds out what you are suspected of and what the interview will cover, assesses what is likely in the file and advises you on your position: silence, a limited statement or a full account.
The consultation before the first interview is short, and what can be achieved depends on what is known. Under Article 30 Sv, the public prosecutor must give you access to the case documents on request. In practice the file is often incomplete at the first interview, and the prosecutor may withhold documents in the interest of the investigation. You can challenge that decision before the examining magistrate. The police will not usually reveal their evidence in advance, and part of your lawyer’s job is to judge how much weight to give to what is not being shown.
If you received an invitation rather than being arrested, there is more room. Your lawyer can contact the investigating officer in advance, ask for the file and, in some cases, agree that you provide a written statement instead of being interviewed. Our article on when you need a criminal defence lawyer sets out the moments at which involving one makes a difference.
What may your lawyer do during the interview?
Your lawyer may make remarks and ask questions before and after the interview, intervene during it in specific situations, and ask for a break to consult you. The interviewing officer leads the interview.
During the interview, your lawyer may intervene if a question is put in an improper way, if you do not understand a question, if you are not fit to be questioned, or if the caution was not given properly. Your lawyer may also ask for an interruption to consult with you. At the end, your lawyer may make further remarks, which are recorded.
The officer may, in defined circumstances, remove a lawyer who obstructs the interview, but that is a serious step and the reasons must be recorded. The European Court of Human Rights has consistently held that legal assistance must be practical and effective, not merely formal, and Dutch practice on what a lawyer may do in the interview has developed under that pressure.
Interviews are recorded in writing. For serious offences and vulnerable suspects, the Public Prosecution Service’s instructions require audio or video recording. A recording is valuable to your defence, because it shows how a question was asked and what was actually said, so it is worth asking whether one was made.
Should you sign the record of the interview?
Only after you have read it carefully and any errors have been corrected. You are not obliged to sign, and refusing to sign a record that contains substantial errors is a legitimate step.
After the interview, the police draw up an official record (proces-verbaal) of the questions and answers. Unless the interview was recorded word for word, it is a summary written by an officer. Article 29a Sv requires that your statement be recorded as far as possible in your own words. The gap between what was said and what is written is where problems arise.
You may read the record yourself or have it read to you before signing, and have it interpreted if necessary. Read it properly, even after a long day. Look for answers attributed to you that you did not give, nuances that have been left out, questions recorded differently from how they were asked, and remarks by your lawyer that are missing.
If there are errors, ask for them to be corrected and for your corrections to be recorded; you may also add remarks. If the errors are substantial and the officer will not correct them, you may refuse to sign, and the refusal and your reason are noted. Signing a record you have not read is one of the few truly irreversible mistakes at this stage.
What happens after the interview?
You may be released while the investigation continues, summoned to appear in court, given a penalty order, or brought before the examining magistrate. The case may also be dropped, with or without conditions.
You should be told which outcome applies. A penalty order (strafbeschikking) deserves special attention, because the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) imposes it without a court. If you accept it, including by simply paying, it is recorded in your criminal record. Under Article 257e Sv, you have 14 days to object and have the case heard by a court. Our article on the OM hearing and the penalty order explains that procedure.
Whatever the outcome, the record of your interview becomes part of the case file and can be used as evidence at trial. That is why you should take the interview seriously even if the suspicion seems minor. A conviction, and in some cases a penalty order, can affect your certificate of conduct (verklaring omtrent het gedrag, VOG), a professional registration or a residence permit long after the case itself is forgotten.
Which mistakes are most common?
The most common mistakes are talking before taking advice, treating the interview as a conversation, waiving your right to a lawyer and signing the record unread.
The first mistake is talking before taking advice, usually to clear things up quickly. An innocent explanation given without knowing what is in the file can lock you into a version of events that later evidence contradicts. The contradiction, not the original conduct, then becomes the problem. Waiting costs a few hours.
The second is treating the interview as a conversation. The officers are carrying out an investigation under the authority of the public prosecutor. Their task is to establish and record the facts, not to advise you on your interests. Nothing said in the room is off the record, including remarks made in a corridor or during a break. That is not a criticism of the police; it is simply what the process is for.
The third is waiving the right to a lawyer to avoid delay, or accepting a duty lawyer without really talking to him or her. The fourth is signing the record without reading it. The fifth is staying silent permanently: silence is a sound starting position, but at some point a defence has to be put forward, and when is a decision for your lawyer once the file is available.
A sixth mistake applies to people who do not speak Dutch well: agreeing to be interviewed in a language you speak only reasonably well. An interpreter is your right, not an inconvenience, and a misunderstanding recorded as an admission is extremely hard to undo later.
What changes with the new Code of Criminal Procedure?
For now, nothing. The Netherlands has adopted a completely new Code of Criminal Procedure, but it is planned to enter into force on 1 April 2029; until then, the current Code applies in full.
The Senate (Eerste Kamer) passed the new Code on 24 February 2026, and it was published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees (Staatsblad) on 13 March 2026. According to the government, the new Code and its supplementary acts are to enter into force at the same time, currently planned for 1 April 2029. The article numbers used in this article are those of the current Code, which governs arrest, questioning and detention today. The government’s page on the new Code of Criminal Procedure tracks the timetable.
What should you do if you are arrested?
State your identity, say that you want to use your right to remain silent and that you want to speak to a lawyer before any interview. Then wait for advice before deciding anything else.
Show your identity document. Ask for a family member or housemate to be informed, and ask for an interpreter if you need one. Do not discuss the case with anyone at the station, including other detainees, and do not try to contact anyone else involved.
Nothing that happens in the first hours requires you to explain yourself. Almost everything you might say can be said just as well a day later, with the file in front of you and your lawyer beside you.
In summary
- You never have to answer questions about the offence, but you must state your identity and, from 14, show a valid ID.
- Every suspect may consult a lawyer before the interview and have a lawyer present during it; minors cannot waive this right.
- You can be held for investigation for up to nine hours (not counting midnight to 9 a.m.), and must be brought before the examining magistrate within three days and fifteen hours.
- Read the record of the interview before signing, and ask for corrections; you are not obliged to sign.
- You have 14 days to object to a penalty order; paying it means accepting it.
Frequently asked questions
What are my rights if I am arrested?
You have the right to remain silent, and the police must tell you so before the interview. You may consult a lawyer beforehand and have a lawyer present during the interview. You must be told what you are suspected of, you may have an interpreter, and you can inspect the case documents through your lawyer. For minors, the police inform the parents as soon as possible.
What is the difference between an arrest and an interrogation?
An arrest means the police take you to the station because they suspect you of a criminal offence. An interrogation is the interview in which they ask you questions about that offence. You can also be invited for questioning without being arrested; your rights are the same.
In what situations am I obliged to answer questions during an interrogation?
Never, as far as the offence is concerned. You must only give your personal details, such as your name, date of birth and address, and show a valid identity document. If an officer suggests that silence is not in your interest, remember that this is an interview technique, not legal advice.
How can I best prepare for a police interrogation?
Contact a lawyer in advance. Your lawyer can find out what the suspicion is, explain what will happen and help you decide whether to answer questions. The police do not have to reveal all their evidence beforehand. Stay calm and ask for a break if you are tired.
What are my rights to remain silent during a police interview?
You do not have to answer any question about the offence, and you may stop talking at any moment. The police must tell you this before the interview starts. Silence cannot by itself be proof of guilt, although a court may note the lack of an explanation where the evidence calls for one.
Can I call a lawyer before answering questions from the police?
Yes. Every suspect may consult a lawyer before the interview, and the lawyer may be present during it. During the interview, your lawyer may ask for a break to consult with you and may intervene if a question is put improperly.
Do I have to answer police questions during an interrogation?
No. You always have the right to remain silent about the offence. You only have to state your identity.
Does staying silent make me look guilty?
Using your right to silence has no legal penalty, and no conviction can be based on silence. A court may, however, take into account the absence of an explanation where the evidence clearly calls for one. That is why the choice is best made with your lawyer.
Am I entitled to a lawyer before and during police questioning?
Yes. Since 1 March 2017, every suspect has the right to legal assistance before and during police questioning, whatever the offence. If you are arrested for an offence for which pre-trial detention is permitted, a duty lawyer is called automatically; otherwise you must ask.
Can I have someone informed that I have been arrested?
Yes. You may ask for a family member or housemate to be informed. In some cases, the public prosecutor may postpone this temporarily in the interest of the investigation. Foreign nationals may also have their consulate informed.
Our criminal defence lawyers assist suspects from the moment of arrest, in Dutch and in English: from consultation before the first interview and attendance during questioning to applications for release and defence at trial. Our criminal law guides cover the surrounding procedure. Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.
How Law & More can help you with this is explained on our criminal lawyer page.
