The Public Prosecution Service in the Northern Netherlands is currently not dealing with new cases according to the fast right. That decision follows after a hack, so that the OM has disconnected all systems from the internet. A custody can therefore take longer than the final punishment.
Due to the current situation, the work of OM employees is more difficult. They can still email each other, but digital contact with the outside world is no longer possible. For example, file pieces must be printed and leave the house by post.
Quick and super fast is intended to handle more simple criminal cases faster, such as entertainment violence or vandalism. That happens when there is clear evidence and there is no further investigation. The police judge makes a decision in this kind of business within seventeen days.
The OM does not provide any further explanation of the decision not to handle new shortcuts. A spokesperson reports that the consequences can vary per public prosecutor. On your own website you can read that shortcut ‘is not easy to realize everywhere’.
The suspension of fast rights sessions can cause suspects to be in custody for longer than the duration of a possible prison sentence, says criminal lawyer Nicole Dolinski from Assen.
This can lead to someone who is sentenced to a few days in jail for several weeks. Dolinski: “There is little room left for court to impose a penalty. Moreover, the court is already struggling with backlogs and all these cases are now also on the shelf.”
Normally, suspects who are tried through the fast rights within about two weeks hear what punishment they receive. “That can be nice, because you quickly know where you stand. And I think that also applies to victims,” says Dolinski.
Now that the fast right is almost still, that is not possible and after 14 days the examining magistrate must determine whether suspects are stuck or are still released while awaiting their lawsuit.
Dolinski can imagine that fast rights will continue to tribute, because the OM can no longer control file pieces digitally. She is disappointed that there is no clarity about how long that situation will last.
“Everything is especially unclear, for example, we have not heard from the OM ourselves about the fast right. If you know how long it will take, then you can postpone things. But now we know nothing at all.”
The OM wants to be sure that the digital systems can be restarted safely again. The problems around the internet may therefore last for weeks. How long it takes before it is online again is not yet known.