New Code of Criminal Procedure with contribution by Berend Keulen

The basis of Dutch criminal law is formed by the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The origins of both Codes go far back in time. The Penal Code dates back to 1886. The Code of Criminal Procedure was introduced in 1926. In short, the Criminal Code describes what criminal offenses are and what punishments can be pronounced for them. The Code of Criminal Procedure regulates the way crimes are detected and prosecuted.

Modernization of the Code of Criminal Procedure

For several years, the Department of Security and Justice has been working on a radical modernization of the Code of Criminal Procedure. An important reason for this modernization is that numerous incidental legislative amendments have not made the Code more comprehensible. And the society for which the Code was created has changed dramatically since 1926. Very different forms of crime have been added, such as cybercrime.

The Minister's goal is for the modernized Code to be introduced in 2020. The modernization will build on the foundation project Criminal Procedure 2001, which was carried out around the turn of the century under the leadership of Groningen professor Geert Knigge and his Tilburg colleague Marc Groenhuijsen. Knigge is currently attached to the project as an advisor.

Contribution of Berend Keulen

Berend Keulen, professor of criminal law and criminal procedure at the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen, has been a member of the Modernization Code of Criminal Procedure Committee, which discusses all draft bills, since the inception of the modernization project. Since May 1, he has been seconded to the department for part of his working hours, and is himself collaborating on a number of bills. Those bills concern parts of the regulation of the investigation at trial, including the law of evidence.

For Keulen, this secondment represents a part-time return to his previous work environment. Before becoming a professor in Groningen, Keulen worked at the Legislation Directorate of the department from 1997 to 2005. There he worked, among other things, on legislative proposals in the field of extrajudicial settlement of criminal cases (OM settlement) and terrorism. In doing so, he contributed in a certain sense to the problem he is now invited to help solve.