An advance of 10,000 guilders, paid in ten thousand notes. That’s how it used to be, says criminal lawyer Jan Boone. That was then neatly booked, taken to the bank, and deposited into the account of the law firm. Nobody made a fuss about it. “The mentality back then was: if you go to the bakery and pay with 100 euros, he doesn’t ask where it comes from, does he?”
That mentality has changed. The rules regarding cash payments to criminal defense lawyers have been further tightened in recent years. Cash payment is allowed in a limited number of cases, for example if a client does not have his own bank account or if the bank account has been seized.
However, an investigation by the local deans, who oversee the legal profession, showed on Monday: cash was often accepted in other cases as well. The disciplinary rules were often violated, especially in 2018 and 2019. In addition, the rule that lawyers must consult with the dean if they accept a cash amount of more than 5,000 euros was not complied with in a large number of cases. In 2020, the number of cash payments fell sharply, according to the deans, partly due to the announcement of the research and the discussion that started within the profession.
“We have had to conclude that a culture has developed in which insufficient attention has been paid to the rules regarding cash payments,” said Amsterdam dean Evert-Jan Henrichs on Monday. The deans argue, among other things, for lowering the maximum amount of cash to be received to 1,000 euros.
‘Don’t skip it’
According to criminal lawyer Mark Teurlings, the rules have become “very strict” in recent years. “Last year I accepted 2,000 euros in cash and had to immediately explain this to the dean. That’s good, but we shouldn’t go overboard either. Cash money in itself is not immediately wrong I think and lowering the limit even further is extreme I think. In shops you can also pay with cash.”
That sentiment lives among more criminal lawyers. “I think lowering the maximum amount is based on a negative attitude,” says Gitte Stevens from Roermond. “You must be able to enter cash if you are transparent about it, and it meets the conditions.” Breda criminal lawyer Erik Thomas says that the Netherlands “wants to be the strictest boy in the class. In the Netherlands, the idea that cash is dirty is much more prevalent than in the countries around us. But you cannot explain to me why someone can pay 1,000 euros for a television and there are all kinds of conditions attached to it with a lawyer.”
Also read about the research of the local blankets: Lawyers often took cash against their own disciplinary rules
Bar Association
The Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) concludes on the basis of the report from the local deans that the rules regarding cash payments do not appear to be a problem, but perhaps their awareness, compliance and supervision may be. The NOvA says that it will also use the possibilities in the future to make the rules more widely known and assumes that the blankets will monitor compliance in the future. A spokesperson for the NOvA says that the current rule is sufficient, and that it is therefore not necessary to lower the limit for cash to 1,000 euros.
The office of lawyer Nico Meijering stopped accepting cash payments as of January 1, 2021, after consultation with the dean. “We did that because you always keep taking risks, no matter how hard you try to trace the origin of money.” Meijering says the decision does have consequences. “People from abroad who need a lawyer in the Netherlands often do not have a bank account. We can no longer assist them. That is sometimes at odds with the oath I took as a lawyer.”
Lawyer Niels van Schaik says he has never found the rules unclear. “The basic principle is: no cash, not even below 5,000 euros. And if there is a client who says that he does not have a bank account, you should investigate that carefully.” Van Schaik says that a comparison with paying cash in a shop does not always hold. “As a lawyer you have a special position in society and you also know more about your client than a shopkeeper. If someone without income who is suspected of having a cannabis farm arrives with 3,000 euros in cash, it is therefore a different story for a lawyer than for the second-hand car dealer on the corner.”