Criminal justice system of the Netherlands

The criminal justice system of the Netherlands is the system of practices and institutions of the Netherlands directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. The Netherlands criminal code is based on the Napoleonic Code, imposed during the time of the French Empire. The Dutch largely kept the Napoleonic Code after their independence, but tempered it with a significantly more rehabilitative penological focus.

Law enforcement in the Netherlands is provided by the national police force. The police make use of over 50,000 individuals, employed in a number of regional and specialist departments. The States-General crafts rules to manage the police, while the Minister of Security and Justice is responsible for the central administration of the police. The national police commissioner is vested with the day-to-day management of the police force.

The judiciary comprises eleven district courts, four courts of appeal, two administrative courts (Centrale Raad van Beroep and the College van beroep voor het bedrijfsleven) and a Supreme Court that has 41 judges. All judicial appointments are made by the Government. Judges are nominally appointed for life, but in practice retire at age 70. The Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government, which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the highest court of the Netherlands, Curacao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court sits in The Hague, Netherlands and presides over civil, criminal and tax-related cases.

...
Wikipedia