If the police or a citizen suspects you of a criminal offence, they may arrest you. If you are arrested by a civilian, the civilian must hand you over to the police as soon as possible. 

The police has the right, if they did arrest you, to place you in a holding cell for the coming nine hours. The clock starts counting after the assistant district attorney visits you. Most of the time the assistant district attorney will also inform you about your rights and the standard procedure. This is called in Dutch voorgeleiding. The hours between 12:00 a.m. and 09:00 a.m. do not count.  These first nine hours should be used in principle for the first interrogation.  Before the first interrogation, the police officer will always ask if you want to consult an attorney and if you want an attorney present during the interrogation. 

Our attorneys can assist you during this phase. If you would like our assistance, you should give the name of one of our attorneys to the police officer, so the police officer can inform our office about your arrest. There are no costs involved for you.

After the first nine hours at the police station the police has to release you or the assistant district attorney should serve a warrant, in Dutch called the inverzekeringstelling. This warrant gives the police the right to hold you for maximum three days extra. If necessary the so-called inverzekeringstelling can be prolonged with an extra three days. If you did not speak to an attorney during the first nine hours, the attorney on duty will visit you at the police station. If you would like that one of our attorneys visits you, you can still give the name of one of our attorneys to the police officer. There are no costs involved for our assistance during this phase of the investigation.