District court

After the police investigation, the Public Prosecution Service may decide that you must appear before the court. You are then summoned. The Netherlands has eleven district courts; we can represent you at every district court in the country.

The substantive hearing

Depending on the seriousness of the offence, you are summoned to a hearing before a single judge, either the sub-district court judge or the single-judge criminal court, or before the full-bench division, which consists of three judges. The sub-district court judge deals mainly with minor offences. The single-judge criminal court deals with both minor offences and more serious crimes, and can impose a prison sentence of up to one year. Where the case is more complicated or the offences more serious, the full-bench division will hear your case. It can impose any of the sentences available for the offence found proven.

During the substantive hearing we are present at the hearing with you or on your behalf. So you are not there on your own. The court puts questions to you about the case file and about the offence or offences you are suspected of. Your personal circumstances are also addressed. The public prosecutor and your lawyer may put questions as well.

As during the police interview, you have the right to remain silent before the court. Depending on your case it may be wise to give a statement after all. One of our lawyers will help you decide.

If a victim or injured party is present in your case, that person may, for certain suspected offences, address the court and explain what effect the offence has had on them. They can also ask to have their loss compensated by you.

The public prosecutor then sets out, in the closing submissions, whether in their view the offences can be proven and, if so, what sentence ought to follow. Your lawyer then has the floor and puts the defence on your behalf. After that, the public prosecutor and your lawyer may respond to one another. At the end of the hearing you always have the final word. The court then closes the examination at the hearing and gives its decision, either immediately or at a later date.

Interim hearings: case management and pro forma

In larger cases, a case management hearing often precedes the substantive hearing. Both the Public Prosecution Service and you and your lawyer can submit investigative requests there: you then ask the court to carry out further investigation, because particular aspects of the case file are unclear or have not been sufficiently examined. That may mean questioning witnesses, obtaining documents or an expert examination. Sometimes it is in fact wise not to have further investigation carried out. We therefore discuss with you what can help your case and advise you on the best strategy.

If you are in pre-trial detention, your case comes before the court more often before the substantive hearing takes place. You first appear before the investigating judge and after that before the chamber dealing with continued detention, which decides whether you must remain in custody. If so, your case is listed every three months at what is known as a pro forma hearing. The court then discusses the state of the investigation and the question whether your pre-trial detention should continue.

You may be released before the substantive hearing, but it may also be that you remain in custody for longer, sometimes right up to the substantive hearing. That can take months, or even more than a year. That is deeply intrusive, particularly because at this stage you have not been finally convicted. Our lawyers therefore look continually for the arguments that can secure your release as quickly as possible.

The judgment and appeal

At the end of the hearing the court gives its decision. Before the single-judge criminal court that is usually on the same day. If the full-bench division has heard your case, the decision generally follows fourteen days later. That decision is called the judgment.

Do you disagree with the judgment? Did you not commit the offence, or do you consider the sentence too high? Then you can appeal. You have up to and including fourteen days after the judgment to do so. Your case is then sent on to the Court of Appeal and heard again. In that phase too we continue to provide you with expert representation.