A victim of a criminal offence in the Netherlands does not have to bring separate civil proceedings to be compensated. Article 51f of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows anyone who has suffered loss as a direct result of the offence to join the criminal proceedings as an injured party (benadeelde partij) and to have the claim decided by the criminal court, at the same hearing and at no cost in court fees.
The route is quick and inexpensive, but it is not unlimited. The criminal court will only decide a claim that can be dealt with without placing a disproportionate burden on the criminal proceedings. Where the claim is complex or heavily contested, the court declares it inadmissible in whole or in part — which is not a rejection: the civil route remains open for whatever the criminal court did not decide.
Who may claim
The claim is open to the person who suffered the loss directly. Where the victim has died, the surviving relatives listed in Articles 6:107 and 6:108 of the Civil Code may claim funeral expenses, loss of maintenance and, since 1 January 2019, compensation for bereavement (affectieschade). An heir may pursue a claim that had already accrued to the deceased. Someone who has taken over the loss, such as an insurer, cannot join the criminal proceedings and must proceed civilly.
What can be claimed
Three categories of loss come up in practice.
Material loss covers everything with a price attached: medical expenses not reimbursed, damaged property, loss of income, travel to hospital and to the hearing, and the cost of assistance. Articles 6:95 and 6:96 of the Civil Code are the basis, and receipts matter — an unevidenced figure is the most common reason for a claim being reduced.
Non-material loss, or smartengeld, compensates pain, suffering and loss of enjoyment of life under Article 6:106 of the Civil Code. It is assessed by comparison with awards in similar cases rather than by formula.
Bereavement damages and shock damages are distinct from one another and are often confused. Bereavement damages compensate a fixed group of close relatives for the death or serious and permanent injury of the victim, at amounts fixed by regulation. Shock damages compensate the person’s own injury — recognised psychiatric injury — caused by directly witnessing the offence or its consequences. The Supreme Court restated the requirements for shock damages in 2022, moving away from a rigid application of the earlier criteria towards an assessment of all the circumstances, but the requirement of a medically established condition remains.
Statutory interest runs from the day the loss arose, and it should be claimed expressly; it is frequently forgotten and adds up over a long procedure.
How to join the proceedings
Joining is done with the injured party form, which is sent out by the Victim Support desk of the Public Prosecution Service once a suspect has been identified. It must be submitted before the hearing begins; a claim can still be made at the hearing itself, but a well-documented form filed in advance is materially more likely to succeed.
Substantiation is the whole of the exercise. Invoices, medical records, a statement of income before and after, photographs and repair quotations do the work. The suspect is entitled to contest the claim, and a figure that cannot be traced to a document will normally be disallowed or estimated downwards.
The compensation measure and payment in advance
Where the court awards the claim, it will normally also impose a compensation measure under Article 36f of the Criminal Code. The practical significance of that measure is considerable: collection then becomes the responsibility of the State, through the Central Judicial Collection Agency, rather than of the victim. You do not have to chase the convicted person yourself.
The advance payment scheme goes further. If the full amount has not been collected eight months after the judgment became final, the State pays out the outstanding balance. For violent and sexual offences the payment is unlimited; for other offences it is capped at an amount set by regulation. The State then continues to recover from the convicted person at its own risk.
What happens if the claim is declared inadmissible
Inadmissibility is not a finding that the claim is unfounded. It means only that the criminal proceedings were not the right forum, usually because deciding it would have required evidence or argument that the criminal case could not accommodate. The claim can then be brought before the civil court, where the criminal judgment — and in particular a conviction — carries significant evidential weight.
Where the offender is unknown, insolvent or never prosecuted, the Violent Offences Compensation Fund (Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven) provides a separate route for victims of violent and sexual offences. It pays a lump sum based on the seriousness of the injury, independently of any criminal case.
Costs of legal assistance
Article 592a of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows the injured party to claim the costs of legal assistance, and the court decides on them separately from the substantive claim. Victims of serious violent and sexual offences are moreover entitled to free legal assistance from a victim’s lawyer, irrespective of income.
Legal assistance
The quality of the file decides the outcome, and it has to be right before the hearing rather than after it. Law & More assists victims in preparing and substantiating a claim, in presenting it at the hearing, and in pursuing the civil route where the criminal court has left part of the claim undecided.
What the court looks at, item by item
It helps to see how a claim is actually assessed. Take an assault resulting in a broken wrist, four weeks off work and a damaged telephone.
The telephone is the simplest item: a purchase invoice and a repair quotation establish both the loss and its amount, subject to a deduction for depreciation where the item was not new. Medical costs are established by the health insurer’s statement showing what was not reimbursed and what fell within the compulsory excess; the excess is recoverable. Loss of income is shown by payslips from before and after the incident, or, for a self-employed claimant, by figures for the corresponding period in previous years. Travel to hospital and to the hearing is claimed at a set rate per kilometre.
Non-material loss is the item most often left unsubstantiated. A doctor’s letter describing the injury, the treatment and the expected recovery does more for this part of the claim than any description of how the incident felt. Where the effects are psychological, a statement from a treating practitioner establishing the condition is essential; without it, the court has nothing on which to base an award.
Time limits and the appeal stage
An injured party who has joined the proceedings at first instance may pursue the claim at the appeal stage as well, but only up to the amount that was awarded or claimed below: the claim cannot be increased on appeal. Where the claim was awarded in full and only the defendant appeals, the injured party does not need to do anything to keep the claim alive, but it is advisable to confirm the position with the Victim Support desk rather than to assume it.
Separately, the ordinary limitation periods of civil law continue to run for anything left to the civil courts. A claim in tort is in principle time-barred five years after the day on which the injured party became aware of both the loss and the person responsible, so a decision of inadmissibility should not be left to sit.
Frequently asked questions
Does joining the criminal proceedings cost anything?
No court fee is payable for joining as an injured party, which is one of the principal advantages over civil proceedings. Costs of legal assistance can be claimed separately under Article 592a of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
What happens if the suspect is acquitted?
An acquittal means the criminal court does not decide the claim. That does not end the matter: the civil standard of proof differs from the criminal one, and a claim in tort under Article 6:162 of the Civil Code can still succeed before the civil court on the same facts.
Can I claim if I was not the direct victim?
Only in the situations the law provides for: the relatives listed in Articles 6:107 and 6:108 of the Civil Code, and those who suffered their own psychiatric injury through direct confrontation with the offence or its consequences. Distress at what happened to another, without more, is not a basis for a claim.
How long does payment take?
Collection begins once the judgment is final. Where a compensation measure has been imposed and the amount has not been collected within eight months, the State pays out the balance under the advance payment scheme, subject to the cap that applies to offences other than violent and sexual offences.
