Stalking under Dutch law: protection and legal steps

Stalking is a criminal offence in the Netherlands, known as belaging and set out in Article 285b of the Dutch Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht, Sr), with a maximum of three years’ imprisonment or a fine of the fourth category. The most important condition: the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) can only prosecute if you file a formal complaint and expressly ask for prosecution.

That legal definition explains a lot in practice: why one unpleasant message is rarely enough, why a diary is worth more than a memory, and why the timing of your report matters. Below we explain what the OM must prove, how stalking differs from related offences, which evidence carries weight, and which protective orders you can obtain through the criminal and civil courts.

When does behaviour count as stalking?

Stalking is the unlawful, systematic and deliberate invasion of someone’s private life, with the aim of forcing that person to do, refrain from or tolerate something, or of making them afraid. All three elements must be proven before a court can convict.

• A systematic pattern (stelselmatig). Not one incident but a course of conduct. The law sets no minimum number of incidents; the courts look at the nature, duration, frequency and intensity of the behaviour, the circumstances and the effect on the person targeted.
• An unlawful and deliberate invasion of private life. The conduct must intrude on your personal life and must be intentional, not accidental.
• A specific aim (oogmerk). The offender must act to force you to do, refrain from or tolerate something, or to make you afraid. Persistent unwanted contact after a clear refusal is the classic example.

In practice courts often impose community service, a suspended prison sentence and a contact or area ban rather than an unconditional prison sentence. The length of the pattern, earlier violence and the involvement of children weigh heavily in the sentence.

Why must you ask for prosecution?

Stalking is a complaint offence (klachtdelict). Under Article 285b(2) Sr, the OM can only prosecute if the person targeted has filed a complaint.

Reporting the facts is not automatically the same as filing a complaint. When you report at the police station, say explicitly that you want the offender to be prosecuted, and check that this is recorded in the statement you sign.

The complaint must be filed within three months of the day you became aware of the offence (Article 66 Sr). With an ongoing pattern, the starting date can be disputed, and the defence will argue for the earliest possible date. That is one more reason not to let a stalking situation continue for months before you act, quite apart from your safety.

How does stalking differ from threats, defamation and domestic violence?

Stalking is defined by the pattern, not by the seriousness of a single act. That distinction determines which article the OM charges and which evidence is relevant.

• Threat (bedreiging, Article 285 Sr) covers a single serious threat, such as a threat of violence or arson. One message can be enough. Threats and stalking are often charged together.
• Defamation and calumny (smaad and laster, Articles 261 and 262 Sr) concern damage to someone’s reputation through statements made public. A stalker who spreads accusations online may commit both, and there is also a civil claim for unlawful publication.
• Domestic violence is not a separate offence. It is the context in which offences such as assault, threats and stalking are committed, and it gives access to additional powers.

The temporary restraining order at home

Under the Temporary Domestic Exclusion Order Act (Wet tijdelijk huisverbod), the mayor can ban someone from their own home for ten days if there is a serious and immediate danger to a partner, child or other member of the household. The order can be extended to a maximum of four weeks.

Because the municipality imposes it rather than a criminal court, it is one of the fastest instruments when a former partner still has access to the house.

The civil route alongside the criminal case

Systematic harassment is also an unlawful act (onrechtmatige daad) under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW). You can ask a civil court for a ban and for damages, whatever the OM decides.

The two routes are not alternatives. In serious cases they are used together, and a good criminal law strategy takes both into account from the start.

How do you recognise the pattern?

Stalking rarely announces itself. It usually starts with contact that seems explicable on its own, and only becomes recognisable when you put the incidents side by side.

The table below shows the forms that occur most often, the typical behaviour and the evidence that is usually available.

The most common pattern is stalking by a former partner in the months after a relationship ends, often mixed with disputes about children, the house or money. That mix is dangerous. It gives the offender seemingly legitimate reasons for contact and leads others to treat the situation as a difficult break-up rather than as an offence. If a former partner used violence during the relationship, the risk of escalation is considerably higher, and that belongs in your report.

Stalking that takes place entirely online is no less serious. It often overlaps with impersonation, fake accounts and the publication of private images. If that is your situation, the article on cyberbullying and online reputation damage sets out the additional remedies against platforms and publishers.

How do you build evidence that holds up?

Because the offence depends on a pattern, your file must show a pattern. A well-kept log is the most valuable document in a stalking case, and it can only be made while events are happening.

Start the log on the day you first suspect what is going on, and keep it where the other person cannot reach it.

• Record every incident on the day it happens: date, time, place, what happened, who saw it and how you responded. Short factual entries are more convincing than long ones.
• Keep the original material, not only screenshots. Export chat histories, keep emails in your mailbox with their headers and save voicemails. A screenshot proves the text; the original proves the sender and the moment.
• Do not delete anything, however unpleasant. Block the sender if you want, but keep the messages: the volume of contact is itself evidence.
• Collect statements while memories are fresh. Ask witnesses to write down what they saw in their own words, dated and signed.
• Ask third parties to secure their records. Employers, housing associations and shops keep camera footage and access logs for a limited time only. A short written request can preserve material that would otherwise be overwritten.
• Have the effects recorded. A visit to your GP or a psychologist creates a record of anxiety, sleep problems and other consequences, which supports both the criminal case and a claim for compensation.

May you record conversations?

You may record a telephone conversation in which you take part yourself. The criminal prohibition on secret recording concerns conversations to which you are not a party.

Courts regularly accept such recordings in stalking cases. Recording a conversation between other people, installing tracking software on someone else’s phone or reading another person’s email is a different matter and can make you the suspect.

How do you report stalking and ask for prosecution?

Report as soon as a pattern is visible. Call 112 if there is immediate danger, or the police non-emergency number 0900-8844 to make an appointment.

Bring your log, a printed selection of messages and a list of witnesses. Ask for a copy of the statement and its registration number before you leave.

Two things must be on the record. The first is the factual account of the pattern, which is why your log matters. The second is your explicit wish that the offender be prosecuted, because without it stalking cannot be prosecuted. Ask the officer to read that sentence back to you.

What rights do you have as a victim?

After the report, the OM decides whether to prosecute. As a victim you have rights under the Code of Criminal Procedure (Wetboek van Strafvordering, Sv): to be informed of important decisions, to inspect the file, to add documents and to be assisted by a lawyer.

If the OM decides not to prosecute, you can file a complaint with the court of appeal under Article 12 Sv. The court of appeal can order the OM to prosecute. The complaint must be filed within three months of being notified of the decision not to prosecute.

Protection during the investigation

You do not have to wait until the case is over to be protected. If there are serious grounds against a suspect, the public prosecutor can impose a behavioural order (gedragsaanwijzing) under Article 509hh Sv, such as a contact ban, an area ban or a duty to report.

The order applies for a maximum of ninety days and can be extended. Deliberately breaching it is a separate offence under Article 184a Sr, with a maximum of one year’s imprisonment or a fine of the third category. A suspect in pre-trial detention can also be released on conditions that include a contact ban.

How do you obtain a contact or area ban?

There are two independent routes: the criminal route through the OM and the criminal court, and the civil route through summary proceedings. They move at different speeds and can be combined.

The criminal route

Before trial, protection comes from the behavioural order or from conditions attached to a suspension of pre-trial detention. After a conviction, the court can impose a measure restricting freedom under Article 38v Sr: an area ban, a contact ban, a duty to be at a specific place at set times, or a duty to report.

That measure can be imposed for up to five years, and the court can declare it immediately enforceable if there is a serious risk of reoffending. The judgment also sets a period of detention that can be enforced if the measure is breached.

The civil route

In summary proceedings (kort geding) you ask the preliminary relief judge (voorzieningenrechter) of the district court for a contact ban and an area ban around your home, work and your children’s school, backed by a penalty payment (dwangsom) for every breach.

The basis is that the harassment is an unlawful act under Article 6:162 BW. Summary proceedings can be heard within weeks, the civil standard of proof applies and you do not depend on the OM. The court weighs your right to be left alone against the other person’s freedom of movement, so a well-drafted claim defines the area and the duration precisely rather than asking for the maximum.

A civil ban is enforced by a bailiff, who collects the penalty payments. If the judgment provides for it, the police can assist with enforcing an area ban. In serious cases both routes are used at once, so a single breach can trigger a penalty payment, a criminal charge and enforcement of the detention held in reserve.

Can you claim compensation?

Yes. You can join the criminal case as an injured party (benadeelde partij) under Article 51f Sv and claim material and non-material damage, without a separate civil procedure.

Material damage includes costs of therapy, lost income, new locks or a new phone number. Non-material damage covers the distress caused. You submit the claim on a standard form before the hearing, preferably with documents supporting each item.

The criminal court only deals with a claim that does not place a disproportionate burden on the criminal proceedings. A clear, well-documented claim will be dealt with. A complex claim that needs its own investigation may be declared inadmissible in whole or in part, and you are then referred to the civil court, where you can still pursue it.

Who collects the compensation?

If the court awards your claim, it will usually also impose a compensation order (schadevergoedingsmaatregel) under Article 36f Sr. The Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB) then collects the money from the offender and pays it to you.

If the offender does not pay within the statutory period, an advance payment scheme applies. For violent and sexual offences the state pays out the full outstanding amount; for other offences the advance is capped at an amount set by regulation. Whether a stalking case falls into the first category depends on what else was charged.

The Violent Offences Compensation Fund (Schadefonds Geweldsmisdrijven) can make a one-off payment to victims of violent offences who suffered serious injury, including serious psychological injury. Stalking on its own usually falls outside its scope, but a case that also involves assault or a serious threat may qualify. Our guide to victims’ rights in Dutch civil law after a criminal case sets out what else you can claim.

Which mistakes weaken your position?

Most damage to a stalking file happens unintentionally in the first weeks. These are the mistakes we see most often.

• Replying after you have said no. Send one clear message that you want no contact, preferably by registered post, and then do not respond at all. Every reply tells the other person that contact still works.
• Waiting until it gets serious enough. Reporting early gives the police a pattern to work with and keeps you within the three-month period for the complaint.
• Deleting the messages. Block the sender, but keep the material.
• Agreeing to one last conversation. It rarely ends anything and it undermines your account that all contact is unwanted.
• Dealing with it in public. Naming the person online or sharing screenshots can expose you to a defamation charge and a civil claim.
• Assuming one route is enough. A civil ban does not create a criminal file, and a criminal report does not by itself keep the offender away from your street.

What if children are involved?

Contact arrangements for children are often used as a seemingly legitimate channel for continued harassment. The family court can adjust or restrict the arrangement, and handovers can be moved to a neutral place or a supervised contact centre.

Keep the criminal file and the family court file consistent. Statements made in one set of proceedings will be read in the other.

What practical support is available?

Practical safety measures work best alongside the legal steps. Free support is available from Victim Support Netherlands and Veilig Thuis.

Vary your routines and routes. Tell your employer what is happening so that reception and security know whom to stop. Set your social media accounts to private, use two-factor authentication and change passwords the other person may know. If the other person always seems to know where you are, have your phone and laptop checked for tracking software. Under the GDPR you can ask platforms and data brokers to remove personal data about you.

Victim Support Netherlands (Slachtofferhulp Nederland, 0900-0101) offers emotional and practical support from the report to the hearing. Veilig Thuis (0800-2000) is the national advice and reporting point for domestic violence and can be contacted anonymously. If the pattern includes psychological pressure and manipulation within a relationship, see our article on gaslighting as a form of psychological domestic violence.

Whether you qualify for subsidised legal aid (gesubsidieerde rechtsbijstand) depends on your income and assets, measured against thresholds set each year by the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand). Victims of certain serious violent and sexual offences are entitled to a lawyer free of charge. Ask about this at your first contact.

In summary

• Stalking (belaging) is a criminal offence under Article 285b Sr, with a maximum of three years’ imprisonment.
• It is a complaint offence: file a complaint within three months and state explicitly that you want prosecution.
• Keep a daily log and preserve original messages; the pattern is what must be proven.
• You can obtain a contact or area ban through the criminal route (Articles 509hh Sv and 38v Sr) or in civil summary proceedings.
• As an injured party you can claim compensation in the criminal case, and the CJIB collects it for you.

More information on the offence and your rights is available from the Public Prosecution Service and Victim Support Netherlands.

Stalking: frequently asked questions

Law & More acts for people who are being stalked and for people who are wrongly accused of stalking. Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.