Contact with the outside world

Prisons and remand centres

Receiving and sending post

Under Article 36(1) of the Prison Principles Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet, Pbw), you may in principle send and receive an unlimited amount of post. You pay the costs yourself, unless the governor decides otherwise. The governor must ensure that post is delivered to you promptly.

Post may be opened to check for prohibited items, such as drugs. Its contents may also be checked and copied. The governor must explain in advance how monitoring will take place; the house rules may set out the rules for spot checks.

Under Article 36(4) Pbw, sending or delivering post may only be refused where this is necessary for:

• order or safety within the institution;
• public order or national security;
• preventing or detecting criminal offences;
• protecting victims or other people involved in crimes.

A refusal relating to contact with a particular person must clearly identify that person and state how long it applies. The Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming, RSJ), which hears appeals, ruled that this period is in principle no more than twelve months (29 May 2024, 22/28835/GA).

Providing only copies may be permitted to prevent Spice applied to paper from entering the institution. The Council (RSJ) accepted this policy after weighing the interests involved and less restrictive alternatives (16 March 2023, 21/20548/GA).

Post that is not delivered to you may be handed back, returned at your expense or kept for you. Your consent is required before it can be destroyed. It may be handed to an investigating officer to prevent or detect criminal offences (Article 36(5) Pbw).

Confidential post from lawyers

Special protection applies to contacts including your lawyer and the supervisory committee (commissie van toezicht): these are ‘privileged’ contacts. Their post is not subject to the ordinary checks of its contents or refusal under Article 36 Pbw. Any check for enclosed objects must take place in your presence.

Incoming privileged post must follow specific mailing rules: a sealed inner envelope inside an outer envelope, with a request to hand the inner envelope to you. The sender must clearly state the capacity in which they are writing. Under established case law of the Council (RSJ), wrongly opening this post usually leads to compensation of € 7,50. A notepad does not automatically count as privileged post.

Confidentiality also applies when staff help with copying. Reading letters from a lawyer and using that information in a report was found to be unlawful (KC 2018/027).

Visits and entry checks

You are entitled to at least one hour of visits per week, including in a remand centre (Article 38(1) Pbw). The house rules cover applications, times, locations and visitor numbers. Visits must be possible in practice: the Council (RSJ) found a visiting hour from 7.45 to 8.45 am unacceptable and considered a start time of 9.00 am or later reasonable.

Visits normally take place under general supervision. Individual monitoring, listening in or recording must be necessary. The nature and reason for monitoring must be explained in advance.

Visitors’ clothing and belongings may be searched. A search of or inside their body, known as a strip or intimate search (visitatie), may not be made a condition of entry. Bringing or attempting to bring prohibited goods into an institution is a criminal offence under Article 429a of the Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht). The governor may end a visit in cases of misconduct.

Refusing or banning visits

A visitor may be refused entry on the grounds listed in Article 36(4) Pbw. The usual maximum period is six months. Twelve months is only possible where there is suspicion of or a conviction for a terrorist offence, or where protecting victims or other people involved requires such a long refusal.

The refusal must be communicated immediately in writing, in clear language and with reasons, a date and a signature. You may lodge a complaint (beklag) and request suspension of the decision. Suspension means asking for the decision to be temporarily put on hold.

A disciplinary ban on visits, meaning a punishment for behaviour connected with that person’s visit, may last no more than four weeks (Article 51(1)(b) Pbw).

Being in a punishment or isolation cell does not automatically remove your right to visits. A restriction must be necessary because of order, safety, behaviour or your physical or mental condition. Visits take place separately and under supervision.

Unsupervised visits and family contact

There is no statutory right to unsupervised visits. Under the Model House Rules (Model Huisregels), they may be allowed no more than once a month if:

• you have spent six continuous months in one or more standard-security prisons or remand centres;
• the visit maintains or strengthens ties and supports your return to society;
• there is a close, lasting relationship;
• criminal investigation and prosecution do not prevent it;
• you have been promoted within the detention regime.

The governor must assess your request individually. Behaviour that harms order or safety may be taken into account. According to the Council (RSJ), a marriage or cohabitation agreement is not required to demonstrate a lasting relationship. Withdrawing extra visits that were previously promised also requires a written assessment of the interests involved.

Parent-child sessions offer opportunities for contact with children under sixteen. Visits between detained people may be possible where they have a close relationship and have not seen each other for at least three months because of detention. Both institutions must agree; the conditions for occasional leave (incidenteel verlof) apply.

Visits from your lawyer do not count towards your ordinary visiting hour. Visits from privileged contacts are in principle unsupervised. An exception may apply if the visitor is in serious danger, after consultation with that visitor.

Phone calls and protection of conversations

Article 39(1) Pbw gives you the right to make phone calls for at least ten minutes once a week. You normally pay the costs yourself. A lack of money must not prevent necessary phone contact with your lawyer. The institution must also make sufficient efforts to ensure privacy during calls.

Listening in or listening back to recorded calls requires specific indications that this is needed and an assessment of the interests involved. It may be necessary to check someone’s identity or protect the interests listed in Article 36(4) Pbw. The nature and reason for monitoring must be explained in advance.

According to the Council (RSJ), recording all calls solely because prisoners who pose an escape risk or a risk to society might be present goes too far. The governor must consider whether recording can be limited to the person concerned or their unit. Recordings may be kept for no more than four months (Article 23a of the Prison Regulations (Penitentiaire Maatregel)).

A ban on particular calls may last no more than twelve months. That maximum period is reserved for the cases mentioned above involving terrorism or victim protection. A complete ban on phone calls is in principle prohibited; an exception applies to placement in a punishment or isolation cell, linked to a measure or disciplinary punishment.

Contact with your lawyer and other privileged contacts must be possible when it is necessary and there is an opportunity. Monitoring may only be used to establish their identity. Any conversations recorded despite this must be deleted immediately. A number recognition system prevents recording of calls to registered lawyers’ numbers. A request from a privileged contact for you to call back must in principle be passed on within 24 hours; make any urgency clear.

Phone calls with a detained life partner or first- or second-degree relatives are possible under the house rules, with an exception for placement in an extra-secure institution (EBI).

Internet, video calls and education

There is no general statutory right to internet access or video calls. The internet is used for purposes including education and returning to society. Computers in the reintegration centre have a list of approved websites.

However, an individual request must be assessed on its specific circumstances. The Council (RSJ) found that a refusal of video calls was insufficiently justified where a father had provided documents explaining why his daughter’s mental health problems made it difficult for her to visit (26 May 2023, 23/31684/GA). Where video calls replace in-person visits, Article 38 Pbw is used as the framework.

Access to legal websites may also be relevant to preparing a defence. In Ramazan Demir v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that refusal without a detailed security assessment breached Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (EVRM). Requests relating to education also require an individual assessment of the interests involved (Article 48(1) Pbw).

Contact with journalists

You must request written permission in advance for media contact, stating the subject and scope of the conversation. Article 40 Pbw requires an assessment of order and safety, public order and morals, the rights of others, and the prevention or detection of criminal offences.

The governor may impose conditions, such as reviewing the publication in advance. For certain subjects, including criminal cases and topics with a nationwide impact, advice must be sought from the press officer of the Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI).

Simply referring to the seriousness of your crime is not enough. However, the interests of victims and bereaved relatives may carry greater weight if supported by specific reasons. Such a refusal was accepted in KC2024/003; an appeal had been lodged against that decision.

Young offenders institutions

Post and protection of family contact

Article 41 of the Young Offenders Institutions Principles Act (Beginselenwet justitiële jeugdinrichtingen, Bjj) gives young people the right to send and receive post. The young person normally pays the costs. Checks for objects are allowed. Monitoring the contents must be announced in advance and must be necessary for order, safety, matters involving criminal offences, victim protection, the young person’s development or their perspective plan: the plan for their stay and development. These interests may also justify refusing post.

Lawyers and the supervisory committee (commissie van toezicht) are privileged contacts. This also applies to parents, guardians, stepparents and foster parents, unless compelling interests of the young person require otherwise (Article 42 Bjj). Checks of this post for objects must take place in the young person’s presence.

Visits

Young people are entitled to at least one hour of visits per week (Article 43 Bjj). Visitors must be able to prove their identity; their clothing may be checked. Any necessary monitoring must be explained in advance.

A refusal of visits may last no more than four weeks, except where it concerns the protection of victims or other people involved in crimes. The governor must give written reasons (Article 62 Bjj). A disciplinary ban on visits may also last no more than four weeks.

Parents, stepparents, foster parents and guardians may in principle have contact without supervision. Only a serious danger posed by the young person to the visitor can justify supervision, after consultation. They must still observe visiting hours. Where there are pressing obstacles, such as work or a long journey, the governor must make another visiting time available.

This protection does not rule out refusal. The Council (RSJ) rejected a request for suspension after parents had tried to bring in goods containing hidden drugs; a two-week refusal was provisionally considered acceptable (28 October 2021, 21/23886/SJA).

Phone calls

Young people may make phone calls for at least ten minutes twice a week (Article 44(1) Bjj). They normally pay the costs themselves. Monitoring may be used to check identity or protect the interests listed in Article 41(4) Bjj, and must be explained. Recordings may be kept for no more than eight months and must then be deleted. Particular calls may be refused for up to four weeks; a call in progress may also be ended.

Hospital orders (tbs) and forensic care

For people subject to a hospital order (terbeschikkingstelling, tbs), contact with the outside world also includes post, visits, phone calls, internet access and media contact. When making a specific request, ask which contact rules apply and clearly state whom you wish to stay in touch with.

Complaining about restrictions

In prisons and remand centres, Articles 60–68 Pbw govern the complaints procedure (beklag). A refusal to send or deliver post must be communicated in writing. You may also complain about a decision on unsupervised visits, or the failure to make such a decision.

Not every complaint about a general rule will be considered on its merits. However, a refusal of your personal request for an exception may be a decision that can be challenged through the complaints procedure (beklag). Young people may complain to the complaints committee (beklagcommissie) if they do not receive the minimum visiting opportunity. Any compensation relates to their own inconvenience, not, for example, visitors’ travel costs.

What does this mean for you?

• Check the house rules before requesting visits or phone contact.
• When requesting an exception, explain your personal circumstances and include supporting documents.
• Explain why contact with your lawyer is urgently needed, especially outside normal calling hours.
• Keep decisions, envelopes and callback requests. If there is a delay or refusal, note what happened.
• If restrictions are imposed, ask about the reason, duration and how your interests were weighed.

This page draws on the expertise of Mr. S.P.C. (Stan) Broekmans, a specialist in detention law at Hameleers Antonides Advocaten. Do you have a question about your own situation? Please get in touch; an initial assessment is free.

Other topics

• Arrestant detainees
• Belongings
• Camera surveillance
• Compensation
• Complaints procedure (beklagprocedure)
• Compulsory treatment