Minister van Weel introduces broadening of the crown witness scheme and improvements to witness protection

News item | 13-06-2025 | 15:26

Van Weel: ”The use of crown witnesses is essential to catch major criminals and thus decimate organised crime. This legislative proposal also enables the prosecution service to use those suspected of relatively more minor crimes to gather more information on serious crime. This will make the scheme much more effective. It is also crucial that witnesses can be properly protected against threats if necessary. The new witness protection rules will help with that.”

A crown witness is a witness who is himself a suspect or convicted person. A crown witness can be given a reduction in sentence at the request of the prosecutor if he testifies against other offenders. At present, a crown witness can at most see his sentence halved. As a result, the crown witness scheme is now mainly attractive to suspects of serious and very serious crimes, but another category of crown witnesses is also needed. This is why the scheme is being broadened to make it more attractive to suspects who play a relatively minor role in organised criminal activity. If the mandatory sentence would normally be at maximum a six-year unconditional custodial sentence, they will soon be eligible for a higher sentence reduction if they turn crown witnesses. The sentence can in that case be converted to a suspended custodial sentence. This makes it easier to prosecute serious criminals using statements from those who play a lesser role in the organised criminal activity.

In addition, the Code of Criminal Procedure lays down the State’s special duty of care, which is elaborated in the new Witness Protection Decree. It will include an improved and more robust legal framework for witness protection. This will clarify what can be expected from the State in terms of witness protection. This ensures there will no longer be any ambiguity as to what can be agreed between the State and the crown witness in the context of witness protection, thus making witness protection more transparent.

The revised Witness Protection Decree also provides for the mandatory balancing of the interests of investigation and safety prior to a crown witness deal. This implements a recommendation from the report ‘Bewaken en beveiligen. Lessen uit drie beveiligingssituaties’ [Surveillance and Security. Lessons from three security situations] from the Dutch Safety Board. This means that from now on it will be mandatory for the security risks arising from a crown witness deal and the possible security measures to be taken to be assessed jointly by the Public Prosecution Service and the NCTV prior to the deal.