News item | 14-07-2025 | 09:30
Today, the bill was consulted for the implementation of the European Confiscation Directive. This proposal makes it possible to take valuables and power with a criminal origin faster and more effectively. This is now only possible after a conviction of a suspect, but this is also possible without a suspect being convicted of a crime or without a suspect being in the picture. This form of taking away is also called Non Conviction Based Confiscation or NCBC. In addition, the directive ensures that we can work together better cross -border to detect and pick up criminal capacity
In 2024, agreements were made in a European context about the effective taking off of criminal capacity. In order to meet these agreements, the law in the Netherlands is now also being amended. Moreover, with the same criminal proceedings within Europe, it is better to cooperate with other EU member states. In addition, the national agencies for the deprivation of assets of the Member States will work more closely and seized objects will soon be sold in more cases before a criminal case has ended. This limits storage space and storage costs.
Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel: ‘Taking off criminal capacity is essential against the criminal revenue model. In this way we get criminals the hardest and we prevent them from investing money in their criminal activities. With this new bill, goods and money can also be taken away without prior conviction if the criminal origin has been demonstrated. The power of the new method lies in turning the current working method: not the person, but the criminal earned money and goods are now central. This allows that much more effective to be taken away. What can really make a difference here is that the ball will be more with the stakeholders. If the Public Prosecution Service has made it plausible that the object of crime comes, the stakeholder will have to give a good and substantiated explanation about the origin to prevent him from losing it. “
An example is if a large sum of money is found in a crawl space of a home, with the suspicion that this has a criminal origin. Or money earned by cyber crime or other forms of online crime. With these forms of crime, the people behind this are often anonymous. The criminal capacity can often be followed and can be traced to a criminal offense, but because there is no concrete suspect, no prosecution can be established. With this bill it can now be ensured that the money is taken away and disappears from the criminal circuit.
The intention for broadening the possibilities to take criminal capacity by implementing the Confiscation Directive has been announced in the government program.