Dutch law offers three kinds of protective orders against domestic violence, each from a different source. The mayor can impose a temporary domestic exclusion order (tijdelijk huisverbod) that removes the person posing the threat from the home for ten days, extendable to four weeks; a civil court can impose a contact ban or area ban in summary proceedings (kort geding); and a criminal court or the public prosecutor can impose a contact ban in a criminal case.
Which route fits depends on how urgent the situation is, whether the police are already involved and what you need to achieve. Below we explain each order, what you need to show, how the procedure works and what happens once an order is in place. If you are in immediate danger, call 112 first. The legal steps can follow.
Which protective orders exist in the Netherlands?
There is no single restraining order in Dutch law. There are three separate routes: an administrative order by the mayor, a civil order by the court in summary proceedings, and a criminal order linked to a prosecution.
The routes differ in who starts them, how fast they work and how they are enforced. The temporary domestic exclusion order is the quickest and is started by the police and the mayor. The civil contact ban is started by you, with a lawyer. The criminal contact ban is started by the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) after a police report. The routes can also be combined. A temporary exclusion order often gives you the time to prepare civil proceedings for longer-term protection.
What counts as domestic violence?
Domestic violence is violence by someone from your domestic circle: a partner, ex-partner, family member or housemate. It covers far more than physical violence.
The judge and the authorities look at the whole pattern of behaviour. This includes physical violence, threats, intimidation and humiliation, stalking and harassment, and control over your money, contacts or movements. There does not have to be physical violence. An ex-partner who keeps sending messages, turns up at your work uninvited and approaches your friends and family can give sufficient reason for a contact ban.
Much of this behaviour is also a criminal offence. Assault (mishandeling) is punishable under Articles 300 to 304 of the Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht, Sr), and under Article 304 Sr the maximum sentence is increased by one third when the victim is the offender’s spouse, partner or child. Threats are punishable under Article 285 Sr. Stalking (belaging) is punishable under Article 285b Sr, but is prosecuted only if the victim files a complaint (klacht). That is why it matters to tell the police clearly that you want the person prosecuted.
How does the temporary domestic exclusion order work?
The mayor can order the person posing the threat to leave the home for ten days and to have no contact with you or the children during that time. The mayor can extend the order to a maximum of four weeks.
The order is based on the Temporary Domestic Exclusion Order Act (Wet tijdelijk huisverbod). In practice the police assess the situation after an incident and advise the mayor, who can impose the order immediately. It applies when the presence of the person in the home poses a serious and immediate threat or a serious suspicion of danger. You do not have to apply for it yourself, and it is not a court order.
During the ten days, Veilig Thuis, the advice and reporting centre for domestic violence and child abuse, offers help to everyone involved. The mayor then decides whether an extension is needed. The person removed from the home can challenge the order before the administrative court. According to the Dutch government, a person who does not comply with the order risks up to two years’ imprisonment or community service. A breach is a criminal offence under Article 184a Sr.
The exclusion order is a short-term measure. If you need protection for longer than four weeks, you will have to use the civil or the criminal route.
How do you obtain a civil contact or area ban?
You ask the preliminary relief judge (voorzieningenrechter) of the district court, in summary proceedings, to prohibit the other person from contacting you or from coming to certain places. You need a lawyer to start these proceedings.
The legal basis is the law on wrongful acts (onrechtmatige daad) under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW). You must make it plausible that the other person’s behaviour is unlawful towards you and that you have an urgent interest in a ban. The judge then weighs your interest in safety and privacy against the other person’s freedom of movement. A ban is therefore tailored to what is necessary: a contact ban, a ban on entering a particular street (straatverbod) or a wider area ban (gebiedsverbod), for a fixed period.
Your lawyer drafts a writ of summons (dagvaarding) setting out the facts and the evidence, and asks the court for a hearing date. In urgent cases a hearing can often be scheduled within a few weeks, sometimes sooner. The other person may respond and defend himself or herself at the hearing. The judge usually decides within a few weeks of the hearing, and in very urgent cases sometimes at the hearing itself.
This route works well when there is a pattern of harassment, stalking or intimidation that has not led to an arrest. It puts you in control: you and your lawyer decide when to start and which evidence to use. The focus is on protecting you, not on punishing the other person.
How is a civil ban enforced?
A civil ban is not enforced by criminal prosecution but by a penalty payment (dwangsom) for each breach. The judge can also allow civil imprisonment (lijfsdwang) if a penalty payment is unlikely to work.
The penalty payment means the other person owes you a fixed amount each time he or she breaches the ban, up to a maximum set by the judge. You can collect the amount through a bailiff (gerechtsdeurwaarder). If the person has no money, a penalty payment has little effect. The judge can then authorise civil imprisonment, which means the police can detain the person for a limited period after a breach. Keep a careful record of every breach, because you will need to prove it when you collect the penalty or ask for enforcement.
A breach of a civil ban can also involve a criminal offence of its own, for example stalking or threats. In that case you can report it to the police as well. If you still need protection when the ban ends, you have to start new proceedings. The judge will then look at whether the threat still exists.
What can the criminal justice system do?
If you report a criminal offence, the public prosecutor (officier van justitie) and the criminal court can impose a contact or area ban on the suspect. You do not start this route yourself; it follows from your police report (aangifte).
A contact ban can be imposed at several stages. If the suspect is held in pre-trial detention and then released pending trial, the court can attach conditions to that release, such as a contact ban. The public prosecutor can also impose a behavioural order (gedragsaanwijzing) under Article 509hh of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Wetboek van Strafvordering, Sv) while the case is pending. After a conviction the court can impose a contact or area ban as a special condition of a suspended sentence (Article 14c Sr) or as a separate measure to restrict liberty (Article 38v Sr).
A breach has criminal consequences. The suspect can be taken back into custody, a suspended sentence can be enforced, or replacement detention (vervangende hechtenis) can follow. This route therefore offers strong protection, but it moves at the pace of the police and the Public Prosecution Service and depends on their decisions. You can explain your wishes to the police and the prosecutor, and as a victim you have the right to be informed about the case.
Violence within the family is dealt with seriously. According to the government, the Public Prosecution Service can prosecute domestic violence without a complaint from the victim, except for offences that by law require a complaint, such as stalking. A conviction also leaves a mark on the offender’s criminal record.
Should you go to the police or to a lawyer first?
If you are in danger or a crime has been committed, go to the police first. If the problem is a pattern of harassment without an acute incident, or you want to keep control over the procedure, a lawyer is often the better first step.
A police report (aangifte) starts a criminal investigation and can lead to a temporary exclusion order or a criminal contact ban. It is also important evidence in any later civil case. The police can put you in touch with Veilig Thuis and Victim Support Netherlands. A lawyer, on the other hand, can start civil summary proceedings on your behalf without waiting for the police or the prosecutor. The two routes do not exclude each other: many victims report to the police and ask a lawyer to seek a civil ban at the same time.
What if your residence permit depends on your partner?
If you live in the Netherlands on a residence permit linked to your partner, leaving that partner can affect your permit. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) has a special arrangement for victims of domestic violence who lose their residence right with their partner.
Under that arrangement you can apply for continued residence in your own right. The IND will want evidence of the violence, and a police report is usually an important part of it. Seek advice on your residence position early, before you move out or the relationship formally ends, so that you do not lose rights unintentionally.
How do you build a strong case?
A request for a ban succeeds or fails on evidence. Your own account matters, but it becomes much stronger when documents, messages and statements from others support it.
The aim is to give the judge a complete and credible picture of the behaviour and of your fear. A single angry message may not be enough. A record of dozens of unwanted messages in a few days shows persistence and a refusal to respect your boundaries, which is exactly what a ban is meant to stop.
Keep digital evidence
Do not delete threatening messages, emails or voicemails. Take screenshots in which the date, time and sender are clearly visible. Save posts and messages on social media as well. Keep the original files, because the other side may dispute a screenshot.
Keep a log of incidents
Keep a chronological log of every incident in a private notebook or a secure app. For each incident, write down:
- the date and time;
- where it happened;
- what happened and what was said;
- the names of any witnesses;
- any injuries or damage, with photographs.
A consistent log creates a timeline that is hard to dispute. It also helps you recall details accurately when you speak to your lawyer or the judge. Order your evidence from the oldest to the most recent incident, so the judge can see the pattern.
Collect official records and witness statements
Official documents from neutral third parties carry weight. Ask for a copy of any police report, and ask your doctor for a statement or your medical file if you were injured. Contacts with Veilig Thuis or a general practitioner can also support your account.
Written statements from friends, family, neighbours or colleagues who saw the behaviour or its effects can be persuasive. A colleague who confirms that your ex-partner waited outside the office every day provides independent proof of stalking.
What happens at the court hearing?
In summary proceedings you, your lawyer and the other party appear before the judge, who asks questions to understand what happened and why a ban is necessary. The hearing is not a confrontation but a conversation aimed at the facts.
Prepare with your lawyer by going through your log, the messages and the statements. The judge will want to know how often the behaviour occurs, how it affects you and why other measures are not enough. Stick to concrete facts: what happened, when and where. Specific examples persuade more than general accusations.
The other party will be given the chance to respond. If you are afraid to be in the same room, tell your lawyer in advance. The court can sometimes take measures, such as arranging for you to wait in a separate room.
What happens after an order has been granted?
Once a civil judgment has been served on the other person by a bailiff, he or she must comply with it. A criminal or administrative order applies from the moment it is imposed and communicated.
Go through every condition with your lawyer so you know exactly what the other person may and may not do. Typical conditions are a ban on any contact, directly or through others, including by phone, text, email and social media; a ban on coming to a particular street or area, such as your home, workplace or the children’s school; and a ban on following or watching you.
Living with a ban also takes some planning. If you have mutual friends, you may need to explain the ban so they do not pass on messages. Keep a copy of the decision at hand. You may want to give a copy to your children’s school or your employer so they know what to do if the person turns up.
What should you do if the order is breached?
Put your safety first and report the breach. Do not confront the other person yourself.
- If you are in immediate danger, go to a safe place and call 112.
- If there is no immediate danger, call the police on 0900-8844 and say that a contact or area ban has been breached. Have the decision to hand.
- Record the breach: screenshots, time, place and the names of witnesses.
- Inform your lawyer. For a civil ban, your lawyer can have the penalty payment collected or ask for civil imprisonment. For a criminal or administrative order, the police and the prosecutor take action.
Do not reply to messages from the other person, however harmless they seem. Any contact that the order forbids is a breach, whatever its tone.
What about children and parenting arrangements?
A contact ban between parents does not automatically end the contact between a parent and the children. If contact with the children is not safe, the family court must decide on it separately.
In practice this often means that existing arrangements need to be adjusted, for example so that children are handed over through a third party or a supervised contact centre. Under Article 1:377a of the Dutch Civil Code the court can restrict or deny contact between a parent and a child if contact would seriously harm the child’s development. Our article on the parenting plan in the case of divorce explains how arrangements about the children are made and changed.
Support is available too. Veilig Thuis (0800-2000) gives advice and help, and Victim Support Netherlands (Slachtofferhulp Nederland) offers practical, emotional and legal support to victims of crime.
In summary
- Dutch law has three routes: a temporary exclusion order by the mayor, a civil ban in summary proceedings and a criminal ban linked to a prosecution.
- The exclusion order lasts ten days and can be extended to four weeks; breaching it is a criminal offence.
- A civil ban is enforced with a penalty payment and possibly civil imprisonment; you need a lawyer to obtain it.
- Evidence decides the case: keep messages, a log of incidents, official records and witness statements.
- Stalking is prosecuted only on the victim’s complaint, so tell the police clearly that you want prosecution.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get protection if we still live together?
Yes. After an incident the mayor can impose a temporary domestic exclusion order, which requires the other person to leave the home for ten days, extendable to four weeks. You can also ask the civil court for a contact ban while you still share a home, and use the time of an exclusion order to prepare that case.
How much does a protective order cost?
A temporary exclusion order and a criminal contact ban cost you nothing, as the mayor and the Public Prosecution Service act on their own authority. For a civil ban you need a lawyer, and court fees apply. Depending on your income you may qualify for subsidised legal aid through the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand). Law & More does not work in this field on the basis of subsidised legal aid.
What if my ex breaches the order by texting me?
Any contact that the order forbids is a breach, whatever the tone of the message. Do not reply. Take a screenshot showing the date, time and sender, and report it to the police. For a civil ban, your lawyer can also have the penalty payment collected.
Can a contact ban be extended?
An exclusion order by the mayor can be extended up to four weeks in total. A civil ban applies for the period set by the judge; if you still need protection after that, you have to start new proceedings and show that the threat still exists. A criminal ban lasts as long as the court or the prosecutor has determined.
Law & More assists victims of domestic violence with civil contact and area bans and with the related family law questions. 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 family lawyer page.
