CRIMINAL LAW GENERAL

The criminal law department is led by Marielle Van Essen and consists of Mr Korver, Ms Hendriks, Mr. C.W. Dirkzwager and Mr. R.D. Meerman. Marielle van Essen has focussed exclusively on criminal law since 2000, and has ample experience in general criminal law, economic criminal law and extradition law.

For a citizen, a criminal case starts the moment he is arrested on suspicion of an offence, is summoned/invited to the police station to make a statement, or receives a summons. A summons is an invitation to appear at the hearing of the Court.

A civilian may already suspect that he is going to be arrested, or receive an invitation or summons.

In all of the abovementioned cases, it is advisable to immediately contact a lawyer specialised in criminal law. Criminal law is not only legally complex, but also requires a tactical understanding based on ample experience.

Arrest
The arrest in particular causes a lot of distress, and at such times, citizens need support and advice.

The police do not work from 9 to 5. Therefore, we have an emergency number on which you or your family can reach us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

06 - 54 760 989 (Ms Marielle van Essen)

(misuse is not appreciated, and may cause us to refuse or close your case).

Immediately following your arrest, you must inform the police which lawyer you want. Preferably, provide them with the full name of the lawyer, the office and the telephone number. In such cases, you can call our emergency number. If you do not do so, you will be provided with a duty lawyer. While duty lawyers can be very capable, it is always a gamble whether you are going to be provided with a lawyer who is specialised in criminal law.

If you call us during or after office hours and ask for someone from the criminal law department, we will contact the police station where you are detained at that time as soon as possible in order to arrange a visit. You do have to state your full first and last name, as well as your date of birth to allow us to trace you. If the police does not respect your choice of lawyer and provides you with a duty lawyer after all, you must immediately inform this duty lawyer of which lawyer you want. The duty lawyer will then be required to inform this lawyer of this.

When one of our lawyers visits you at the police station, he will have a maximum of 30 minutes (the maximum time allowed for such a visit) to discuss the course of action that should be taken during the proceedings (silence, admission or making a statement that may or may not be completely truthful). He will also explain the proceedings that are expected to follow. Finally, if desired, the lawyer will see to it that your family/partner/friends are informed and that he or she is provided with the documents (papers) that may be useful in the course of the proceedings to follow.

Do take note:
Whatever the police tells you, you as a suspect always have the right to remain silent. Do not be swayed by statements such as “you can only make a statement now; that will not be possible at a later stage", "if you do not make a statement now, we will detain you, otherwise we will release you”, or “just tell us what happened; you will feel better”. There is no such thing as telling something "off the record". The police can include anything you say in a report of findings, which can be used as evidence against you in the proceedings that follow. It does not really matter whether you have signed this report or not. If you have made a statement and signed it, it is almost impossible to change it. In the Netherlands, it is not possible to withdraw a statement. Your statement will always remain available to the judge in the file, and the judge may use that statement as evidence.

If you do not wish to make a statement, you should not do so and wait until you have consulted your lawyer.

You have the right to contact your lawyer, even if you are subject to the strictest of restrictions. You may call us as often as the house rules of the relevant police station or Detention Centre allow, which must be at least once a day.

Being brought before the Delegated Judge
Within 3 days of the arrest, the Public Prosecutor must decide whether he wishes to detain you any longer. In that case, you will be brought before the Delegated Judge of the Court. Only then, and no earlier, will the lawyer receive the criminal file. Usually, the lawyer is not called until just before the client is brought before the Delegated Judge, and informed that the client will be brought before the Delegated Judge within 30 minutes or an hour. This means that the lawyer has to drive to the Court and read the file and, with any luck, might have a little time left to briefly discuss it with you. The lawyer will then advise you on the course of action to be taken and the contents of your statement (if any). In addition, the lawyer will demand your release before the Delegated Judge.

Detention in a Detention Centre
If the Delegated Judge decides to detain you for a longer time (a maximum of 14 days), you will be taken to a Detention Centre immediately following this decision. This Detention Centre can be anywhere in the Netherlands.

Your lawyer will visit you as soon as possible and will take the time to discuss the contents of the file and determine which (if any) investigative activities must be undertaken.

The criminal lawyers of Korver & Van Essen are known for being very involved in your criminal case.

They will visit you more often than the average lawyer and will take the time to consult with you, rather than coming for a 15-minute visit only once a month. They will come as often as is needed to discuss your case.

In addition, we do not only consider the case, but also the personal situation of the detainee. Our lawyers will see to it that, while in prison, you are provided with the things you are entitled to (psychological help, medical help, work, etc).

In camera proceedings
Within 14 days of being brought before the Delegated Judge, you will be taken to Court again, this time for the in camera proceedings during which the Public Prosecutor’s demand to detain you is handled.

Nowadays, in bigger cases, the Public Prosecutor will no longer demand 30 days of detention 3 times over, but will immediately demand the full 90 days, and this is often granted. The lawyer of our department will make every effort to see to it that you are released during these proceedings.

However, should the judge decide to detain you longer, we will see whether this decision can be appealed, or request a termination/suspension on our own initiative at a later stage. Our lawyers understand better than anyone how important it is for you to be released as soon as possible. We will therefore take every (legal) opportunity to get you released as soon as possible, before the substance of the case is brought before the Court.

Substance of the case brought before the Court
While in detention, you will be brought before the Court within no more than 100 days after your arrest. EitherEither the substance of the case will be dealt with, or the case will be dealt with pro forma. During a pro forma hearing, the only subject discussed is whether further investigative activities are required. In addition, this hearing is another opportunity to attempt to get you released.

During this period of 100 days, further investigative activities may have been undertaken, whether or not at our request. During this period, you will have been visited by your lawyer a number of times. During the last visit, an inventory will be made of the information contained in the file, and you will be fully prepared for the hearing. The lawyers of our department take all the time they need for this. After this, the lawyer is charged with coming up with an excellent plea, one that will convince the judge that you are in the right.

Appeals
If you do not agree to the judgment of the Court, you will have 14 days to appeal. In such cases, your case will be reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

On average, depending on the scale and complexity of your case, it takes about six months for the Court of Appeal to review it. We understand that this is a long time for you to be detained. Therefore, we will try to get you released during this period.

Appeal in cassation
You can institute an appeal in cassation of the ruling of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court in The Hague is the highest (national) Court and will determine whether the Court of Appeal has applied the law correctly.

Revision
In extreme cases, it is possible to have your case revised even after the judgment has become irrevocable.

European Court of Human Rights
If your case has reached the final stage at a national level, and you are of the opinion that the judgment in your case constitutes a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, we can represent you in the application proceedings with the European Court of Human Rights.

Acquittal and compensation
Thanks to the expertise of our lawyers, the prosecution is often barred, as a result of which the client is discharged from (further) prosecution or acquitted.

In almost all cases, the client is subsequently eligible for compensation of the time spent in custody and the costs of legal representation (if any), as well as the other costs connected with the criminal case.

Even if you are sentenced, you are entitled to compensation of certain expenses that you have incurred during the proceedings, provided that these expenses have made a demonstrable contribution to your defence.

Our department will see to it that you will get the compensation to which you are entitled.