Last updated on 27 October 2026

Criminal threats (bedreiging) means threatening another person with a serious crime, such as an offence against life, serious assault, arson or open violence. It is an offence under Article 285 of the Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht, Sr). The maximum penalty for a basic threat is three years in prison or a fine.

Table of contents

Legal basis

Article 285(1) Sr lists the crimes you may not threaten someone with. These include an offence against life, serious assault, hostage-taking, arson and open violence against people or property. Threatening a simple slap is therefore not covered. A criminal threat is a serious offence (misdrijf).

A written threat with a condition is punished more severely. Think of a letter saying: pay, or I will set your house on fire. The maximum is then four years (Article 285(2) Sr). Threatening a terrorist offence can lead to six years (Article 285(3) Sr).

The prison term can be increased by one third when certain people are threatened in or because of their work. These include a mayor, judge, lawyer, journalist or police officer (Article 285(5) Sr).

How it works in practice

Threats are increasingly made through messages, email or social media. The police record screenshots and statements in an official report (proces-verbaal). For a basic threat, the public prosecutor can impose a penalty order (strafbeschikking) without a hearing (Article 257a Code of Criminal Procedure, Sv). Serious or repeated threats are more likely to lead to a summons.

Besides a sentence, the court can impose a contact ban or an area ban. The victim can join the case as an injured party (benadeelde partij) and claim compensation for emotional harm.

Common pitfalls

Suspects often say it was a joke or said in anger. That does not always help. The court asks whether the victim could reasonably fear that the crime would be committed. The context, the tone and earlier incidents all count.

A message in a group chat or a public post can also be a threat, as long as it reached the person threatened. Deleting it afterwards does not undo the offence, and a screenshot has often already been taken.

Victims sometimes keep only part of the messages. Save the whole conversation with dates and times. This lets the police assess the threat in context and identify the sender.

Our criminal lawyers assist suspects and victims in cases involving criminal threats.