Admission staff are trained to identify prisoners at risk of harming themselves or others. They must report these prisoners to all departments during weekly meetings. At-risk prisoners are visited by a nurse and a psychologist.

Prison staff draw up an individual sentence programme for each prisoner.
This programme sets out the organisation of daily life: work, recreational and sports activities, learning, and visits. Prisoners usually work for half of the day. The other half is devoted to other activities.

Prisoners may receive visits from their lawyers on any working day. The visit must be scheduled at least one day in advance (Article 3.8.2 of the Internal Regulations of Penitentiary Institutions).
Prisoners are not permitted to receive visits from their lawyers during hours of work, unless there is an emergency or special permission is granted by the governor. Visitation time during working hours is exempt from remuneration.

The prison governor informs the deceased’s relatives as soon as possible.

The governor is required to discuss administrative matters related to the death with the next of kin. The governor also grants them access to the place of death.
The chaplain of the prison makes him/herself available for the deceased’s next of kin.

The principal policies implemented to prevent abuse are:

• training of prison staff
• possibility of lodging a complaint with an independent body (Supervisory Committee)
• continual access to a lawyer

For information about complaint procedures, see the section “Complaints”

For more information about international monitoring, see section “NPM and other external control bodies”.

Articles 60 and 61 of the PBW provide for the right to file a complaint against any decision made by or on behalf of the facility director.
There are no formal requirements for the complaint. Any identifiable written material is treated accordingly. It must be filed within seven days of the disputed decision. The complaint may be written in Dutch or in any other language (Article 61 of the PBW).
Standard procedure guarantees confidentiality: prisoners file their complaints in dedicated mailboxes, accessible only to the Supervisory Committee.
The complainant may be assisted by a lawyer at no cost.

The Complaints Committee (Beklagcommissie) is the specialised body for receiving complaints. It is appointed by the Supervisory Committee (Beklagcommissie van Toezicht) (see “National preventive mechanisms and other external control bodies”).

The Complaints Committee consists of three members of the Supervisory Committee and a secretary (Article 62 of the PBW). The chairman is ideally a magistrate.

The Complaints Committee may order the implementation of certain measures, conflict resolution, or the awarding of compensation.

Inmates and the prison service may appeal against the decisions of the Complaints Committee. The appeal must be lodged within seven days of the decision. It is handled by the Appeals Committee (Beroepscommissie) of the Council for the Application of Criminal Law and Youth Protection (Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming).

The Dutch complaints procedure is considered by some experts to be an effective remedy for inmates’ grievances.¹ It is one of the few complaint mechanisms that are regarded highly by the European Court of Human Rights and the CPT. Prisoners are, however, constrained by the short time limit for lodging complaints.

The Complaints Committee may refer a complaint to the Supervisory Committee. The complaint is then dealt with more formally, with the Supervisory Committee acting as a mediator between the prisoner and the head of the facility (Article 63 of the PBW).

Each facility has a Supervisory Committee (Commissie van Toezicht). This is made up of members of the public, and must “enable supervision by persons outside the prison, offering the outside world a view of the entire facility”¹.
It participates in NPM meetings as an “associate”.
Supervisory Committees are set up for each establishment.

The Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (Studie- en Informatiecentrum Mensenrechten, SIM) also monitors conditions of detention.

Sentence adjustment
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for decisions on sentence adjustment. The judge and the facility director have residual jurisdiction in this matter.

Temporary release
The Public Prosecutor’s Office may be consulted on the temporary release of inmates. The final decision is made by the prison management.

Retraction of alternative sentences
The public prosecutor’s office may decide on incarceration if alternative measures, such as community service, are not adequately executed.

Temporary release is granted in accordance with the length of the sentence.
It is arranged by the governor at the point of incarceration and is spread over the entire length of the sentence. The maximum frequency is once a month. Each release is limited to 52 hours.
Prisoners may be granted temporary release, for good behaviour, at Easter, Pentecost, Christmas and New Year.
Temporary release is also granted for personal reasons (birth, illness, death of a close relative; specialised medical care; preparation for release, job interviews, education or training). In such instances, temporary release may be supervised (Article 21 of the EAA).

Royal pardons are regulated by a law (Gratiewet).
Article 2 provides two grounds for pardon:

• The court did not take into account circumstances that would have justified a different sentence or no sentence at all
• Execution of the sentence no longer serves the purpose for which it was issued

Pardons may lead to partial or total reduction of the sentence, to its suspension or a transfer to an alternative measure.
The prisoner, a family member, his/her lawyer or a member of the parole staff may apply for a pardon.