Pre-trial detention in the Netherlands, step by step

If your partner, your child or an employee has just been arrested in the Netherlands, the hardest part is not knowing what happens next, or when. Dutch criminal procedure moves in fixed stages, each with its own decision-maker and its own maximum period. This guide sets out those stages in order, and what you can do from outside.

Which Code of Criminal Procedure applies today?

This matters, because much of what you will read online is out of date. The Netherlands has recodified its criminal procedure: the establishing acts for the new Wetboek van Strafvordering were adopted by the Senate on 24 February 2026 and published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees on 13 March 2026 (Stb. 2026, 56 and 57). But adoption is not entry into force.

In August 2026 the new Code is not yet in force. Your relative’s case is governed by the existing Wetboek van Strafvordering of 1921, as amended. All the acts take effect together on a single date, currently foreseen as 1 April 2029 — a target rather than a promise. Every article and time limit below is given under the Code now in force.

The stages and their maximum periods

That last row explains a discrepancy you may have seen: 104 days counts pre-trial detention in the strict sense, remand plus continued detention, while 110 days adds the six days of police custody before it. Both are correct.

Arrest and the first hours

A person may be arrested where caught in the act, and for more serious offences where not (arts. 53 and 54 Sv), then brought before an assistant public prosecutor who decides whether they may be held for questioning. This period is ophouden voor onderzoek (art. 56a Sv): at most nine hours where the suspected offence permits pre-trial detention, six hours for lesser offences. Crucially, the hours between midnight and 09:00 do not count, so someone arrested at 22:00 may still be at the station well into the next day with no limit exceeded. A further six hours may be used where identity cannot be established (art. 61 Sv).

Police custody: inverzekeringstelling

If more time is needed, the public prosecutor or an assistant public prosecutor may order inverzekeringstelling (art. 57 Sv). The suspicion must concern an offence for which pre-trial detention is permitted under art. 67 Sv, and the investigation must require it.

Police custody lasts a maximum of three days, extendable once by up to three further days by the public prosecutor in cases of urgent necessity (art. 58 Sv). The maximum is six days; there is no second extension. The order is in writing and the person must be heard first. They are held in a police cell, not a prison.

The prosecutor may also impose beperkingen — restrictions. The detainee may then have contact with nobody but their lawyer: no visits, no calls, no letters. This is not a punishment or a sign that the case is hopeless; it is an investigative measure, normally lifted within weeks, and the lawyer can challenge it.

The right to a lawyer, and how the duty lawyer reaches a detainee

A suspect has the right to be assisted by a lawyer (art. 28 Sv). Two rights matter in the first hours:

• Consultation before questioning (art. 28c Sv): to speak to a lawyer privately before the first substantive interview.
• Assistance during questioning (art. 28d Sv): to have a lawyer present in the interview room.

The police must inform the suspect of these rights and notify the duty lawyer scheme (art. 28b Sv). This is the piket system: the police send a piketmelding to the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand), which allocates the case to the criminal defence lawyer on duty in that region at that moment. A lawyer who has been assigned must be available within two hours of the notification; if that period passes, questioning may begin on the conditions the provision lays down (art. 28b Sv). The duty lawyer attends the station, usually within hours. The family need arrange nothing and are not asked to pay for the call-out. What the assignment covers — how much consultation time is remunerated, and whether a personal contribution falls due once a formal assignment is made for the case as a whole — is set by the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand and changes with its policy, so put the question to the lawyer at the first contact rather than assuming the whole defence is free.

The duty lawyer is fully qualified, but allocation is by rota: the family may instruct a lawyer of its own choosing at any point, and changing causes no prejudice. An adult may waive the right to a lawyer only after being told the consequences, so where a relative is vulnerable or speaks little Dutch, pressing them to insist on one is legitimate. An interpreter is free of charge.

The appearance before the examining magistrate

Police custody cannot simply continue. The suspect must be brought before the rechter-commissaris, the examining magistrate, no later than three days and eighteen hours, counted from the moment of arrest (art. 59a Sv). That outer limit accommodates the three days of police custody together with the hours before it: up to nine hours of holding for questioning, and the up to nine night hours that do not count towards it.

This hearing, the voorgeleiding, is the first time a judge sees the case. It is held in a small room, not a public courtroom, with the lawyer present. The magistrate reviews whether the arrest and police custody were lawful, ordering release if a time limit was exceeded, and decides on the prosecutor’s application for remand. It is not a trial: guilt is not in issue. Many suspects are released at this point.

Remand: bewaring

The examining magistrate may order remand on the application of the public prosecutor; the suspect is in principle heard before the order is made and may be assisted by counsel at that hearing (art. 63 Sv). If the application succeeds, the suspect is remanded for a maximum of 14 days (arts. 63 and 64 Sv), which the examining magistrate cannot extend. The detainee moves from the police cell to a remand centre (huis van bewaring) run by the Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI), where conditions are considerably better: a proper cell, a daily regime, visits, telephone and post.

Continued detention: gevangenhouding

Before the 14 days expire the prosecutor may apply to the district court for gevangenhouding (art. 65 Sv). This is decided not by a single magistrate but by the court sitting in chambers (raadkamer), normally three judges, at a hearing the suspect and lawyer may attend.

Continued detention may run for a total of 90 days (art. 66 Sv), usually in successive blocks of up to 30 days, so the case returns to a judge at intervals. Where someone previously released is re-detained, the order is gevangenneming. Orders, and refusals to lift or suspend detention, can be appealed. An order for gevangenneming or gevangenhouding may be appealed within three days, while the prosecution service has fourteen days to appeal against an order lifting detention (art. 71 Sv). The suspect may appeal once, again within three days, against the refusal of a request to lift or suspend detention (art. 87 Sv).

The statutory grounds for pre-trial detention

Two separate hurdles must both be cleared.

The case must be one in which detention is allowed

Article 67 Sv lists these: broadly, offences carrying a statutory maximum of four years or more, together with a list of specified lesser offences. Article 67 Sv also permits detention where the suspect has no fixed place of residence in the Netherlands. This is why foreign nationals and recent arrivals are more often detained than residents facing identical charges — the point is not nationality but the absence of a settled Dutch address.

There must also be serious objections (ernstige bezwaren): a suspicion of real weight, materially stronger than the reasonable suspicion needed to arrest.

There must be a ground

Article 67a Sv sets out the grounds; at least one must apply.

• Flight risk — a serious risk of absconding. Ties abroad, no Dutch address and no settled employment weigh here.
• The twelve-year ground — the offence carries a statutory maximum of twelve years or more and the legal order has been seriously shaken by it. Both limbs are required; gravity alone is not enough.
• Risk of repetition — a serious risk of a further serious offence, in particular one carrying six years or more, or one endangering the safety or health of persons or the security of the State.
• Risk of obstructing the investigation — detention is reasonably necessary to establish the truth other than through the suspect’s own statements. This is the collusion ground: the concern is interference with witnesses, co-suspects or evidence. It weakens as the investigation progresses, and is often the first ground to fall away.
• The fast-track ground — detention is reasonably necessary to bring the case to trial quickly. It requires a suspicion of one of the offences the provision lists, public unrest arising from the offence, and trial within seventeen days and eighteen hours of the arrest (art. 67a Sv).

Suspension and lifting of pre-trial detention

Detention is not fixed once ordered. Two applications are available at any stage:

• Lifting (opheffing, art. 69 Sv): the legal basis has fallen away — the serious objections no longer hold, or no ground survives.
• Suspension (schorsing, art. 80 Sv): the order stands, but the person goes home on conditions. This is the realistic application in most cases; ask your lawyer about it early.

The court weighs continued detention against the suspect’s personal interests: a job that will be lost, children, studies, medical treatment, a tenancy. Documented specifics carry far more weight than general assurances, and this is where a family helps — an employer’s letter, a lease, a school enrolment, a written offer of an address.

Conditions commonly imposed include surrender of the passport; reporting to a police station at set intervals; residence at a specified address; a prohibition on contacting the complainant, witnesses or co-suspects; electronic monitoring; probation supervision or treatment; and, less often, the provision of security. There is no general system of money bail as in the United States or England and Wales. A suspect who breaches a condition can expect to be returned to custody.

The 104-day point and the pro forma hearing

Continued detention cannot simply roll on: before the 90 days expire — within 104 days of the start of remand — the case must be listed before the trial court. Often the investigation is unfinished, and what follows is a pro forma hearing: a real hearing at which the substance is not tried. The court reviews progress, rules on requests for further investigation, and decides whether detention continues, then adjourns. The cycle repeats, with a judicial decision on detention at least every 90 days. In complex cases several pro forma hearings before the real trial are normal.

Compensation for unlawful or unjustified detention

If the case ends without conviction or punishment, the former detainee can apply for compensation for the time spent in custody (art. 533 Sv). A separate application covers lawyer’s fees and other costs (art. 530 Sv).

The application must be made within three months of the case ending, and is decided by the court that last dealt with it. There is no court fee. Compensation is awarded on grounds of equity and is not automatic even after acquittal, particularly where the suspect’s own conduct contributed to the suspicion. Standard daily rates apply, set by the orientation points of the national consultative body of criminal-law judges (LOVS) and used by the courts under arts. 533 and 534 Sv: in the order of €140 for each day in a remand centre and €115 for each day in a police cell.

What a family member can actually do

In the first days, less than you would like; from remand onwards, a great deal.

• Getting word. A detained person has the right to have a relative or third party informed of the detention (art. 27e Sv). Where restrictions apply this may be limited to the bare fact, and delayed. If you have heard nothing, ask the lawyer, not the police.
• Finding them. During police custody, the station holding them; from remand onwards, a penitentiary institution. DJI does not confirm to callers whether a named person is held, so ask the lawyer.
• Visits. Every institution allows visits, but arrangements differ, so check its own rules. Visitors aged 14 and over must produce photographic identification; children under 12 must be accompanied. Unsupervised visits for partners are possible only after a longer period, on application to the governor. Under restrictions, only the lawyer may visit.
• Telephone. A detainee is entitled to telephone at least once a week for ten minutes, usually more in practice. Calls are made by the detainee, not to them, are charged to their account, and may be recorded. Calls with the lawyer are treated differently.
• Post. Letters are the most reliable channel in the early weeks, though correspondence may be checked. Write the registration number, surname and initials on the envelope.
• Money. Transfer money to the detainee’s account with the DJI Shared Service Centre, quoting the registration number, surname and initials in that order — without those details it cannot be allocated. From abroad, use BIC INGBNL2A. A detainee may hold at most €250, which pays for calls and shop purchases.
• The consulate. A foreign national has the right to have their country’s consular authorities notified. Consulates cannot intervene, obtain release or pay for a lawyer, but they can visit, check that conditions are proper, and pass messages to family abroad.

If the detainee is a foreign national

Detention is more likely. Article 67 Sv permits pre-trial detention where the suspect has no fixed place of residence in the Netherlands, and the absence of a settled address also feeds into flight risk. Someone here a few weeks faces a materially higher chance of remand than a long-term resident on the same charge. Evidence of a stable Dutch address, municipal registration, an employment contract and family ties is therefore the substance of the argument against detention.

Language. Interpretation at questioning and hearings, and translation of essential documents, are provided at the State’s expense. Tell the lawyer at once if a relative was interviewed in a language they do not command comfortably.

Immigration consequences. Pre-trial detention does not by itself end a right of residence. A conviction may. Where a permit holder is sentenced, the IND can refuse renewal or withdraw the permit on public-order grounds, applying a sliding scale weighing the length of sentence against the length of lawful residence: the longer the residence, the heavier the sentence must be. EU citizens and their family members have substantially stronger protection under free-movement law. A person without lawful residence may be declared undesirable or given an entry ban, and removal may follow the sentence. Immigration detention is a separate regime from criminal remand, in dedicated detention centres. The sliding scale is a table of thresholds in the Vreemdelingenbesluit 2000 and it is revised from time to time; because the exposure turns on which band a sentence falls into, the current table has to be read before a plea or a settlement is agreed, not after sentence.

Where a case carries both criminal and immigration exposure, the two must be run together: a sentence that looks acceptable in the criminal case alone can be the very thing that costs a person their residence permit.