Holland: New preparatory offences
01 January 1991
Holland: New preparatory offences
artdoc July=1994
On 1 April new legislation came into force which enables criminal
prosecution for the preparation of any criminal offence
punishable with at least 8 years imprisonment. The prosecution
must demonstrate the preparatory measures by showing that the
suspect actually has artifacts, materials, money, information
carriers, spaces or transport facilities at his or her disposal
that are obviously intended to carry out the intended crime.
Additionally, the crimes have to be planned to be carried out
with more than one perpetrator. The change of law was motivated
with the need to be able to intervene with the full force of the
law when serious crimes such as a bank robbery or pornographic
child abuse are being prepared, without having to wait until the
crime is actually carried out and people's lives may be
endangered. However, following an adaption of the narcotics law
in the early 1980s which allows for similar prosecution of
preparatory measures, that clause has so far mainly been used to
allow the police to operate in a proactive phase and to reinforce
the evidence in a later trial. Proponents of the new legislation
have put forward the argument that investigating magistrates will
now be in a better position to become fully involved in police
investigations in an earlier phase, thus allowing for better
procedural controls.
Statewatch, Vol 4 no 3, May-June 1994