Country

Netherlands

Detention issue

FRA research findings

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Legal instruments & key provisions

Legal instrument Key provision
Penitentiary Principles Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet)Juvenile prisoners are detained in special youth custodial institutions. Juveniles aged 12 to 17 who commit an offence are penalised under juvenile criminal law. The court may also apply juvenile criminal law to adults aged 18 to 22 years because on 1 April 2014 an act amending the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Proceedings took effect which extended the upper age limit for sentencing a young adult under juvenile criminal law to 22 years. When minors of 16 or 17 years old are sentenced by adult criminal law, they will be detained in a Youth Custodial Institution as long as they are still a minor.
Youth Custodial Institutions ActIt differentiates between a variety of regimes addressing the special needs of the detainee.

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM RECOMMENDATIONS

Year Recommendation Report
2021“In October 2021, in response to the progress report of the inspectorates, the Minister for Legal Protection provided a hefty aid package to solve the capacity and staff shortage in the Young Offenders Institutions. The progress statement of the inspectorates stated that extra capacity was realised and the external waiting list was reduced, but a shortage of personnel and suitable places still remained. One consequence is that internal waiting lists are not solved. Youths cannot always move on to a place that is suited for them, because departments are full. The legal requirements for day programmes were also not met for the majority of the institutions in the summer of 2021. As a result, youths spent more time in their rooms than what is legal. The security for staff and youths is not in order, because employees have insufficient time to get to know the juveniles and gauge their mood. Several violent incidents took place. Collaboration with the schools is also under pressure. Report details