Since February 1, 2025, the OM applies the penalty order more frequently in cases of common property crime, such as shoplifting and fencing. This relieves the criminal court and allows judicial capacity to be utilized for more serious criminal cases. This shortens processing times and addresses and punishes more crime. This intensification is recorded in a temporary instruction.
This intensification has raised questions, as has been shown in the roundtable discussion of the Justice and Security Committee of the House of Representatives on March 26, 2025.
The College has reflected on this and it has led to a number of adjustments.
Where the College believed that imposing a penalty order on illegal immigrants and asylum seekers would lead to more penalties (namely no dismissal), this could give the impression that they would be punished less severely. For this reason, the College refrains from including illegal immigrants and asylum seekers under the temporary instruction.
The College wants to examine in the coming year what the impact of this first temporary instruction is for the judiciary and victims. Additionally, the Attorney General at the Supreme Court has announced a follow-up study on the OM penalty order. The WODC is also conducting research on this. The College is awaiting the results of its own reflection and both studies and will not introduce new temporary instructions to further intensify the use of the penalty order in the meantime. The OM will strengthen the position of the victim regarding the penalty order in consultation with Victim Support Netherlands, and optimize the provision of information and legal assistance to suspects.
Meanwhile, the OM aims to resolve more cases criminally and further reduce processing times so that more victims receive justice more quickly.