Promotion and demotion

Prison system: the basic and enhanced programmes

The assessment system is set out in the Regulations on the Selection, Placement and Transfer of Detainees (Regeling selectie, plaatsing en overplaatsing van gedetineerden, Rspog). The current assessment framework has applied since 1 October 2020 and distinguishes between desirable, undesirable and unacceptable behaviour.

Basic programme

The basic programme is offered in prisons and remand centres (huizen van bewaring). It covers 42.5 hours per week, including at least 22.5 hours of activities and visits. When there are no activities, you remain in your cell. These hours are set out in Article 3(2)(a) of the Prison Rules Decree (Penitentiaire maatregel).

Enhanced programme

Only prisons offer an enhanced programme. It provides 59 hours of activities per week and includes the basic programme plus, among other things:

• additional opportunities for education;
• skilled work or work with greater freedoms;
• activities aimed at changing behaviour;
• extra support for returning to society;
• opportunities to express preferences about activity times.

This follows from Article 1(j) of the Rspog and Article 3(2)(b) of the Prison Rules Decree (Penitentiaire maatregel).

The enhanced programme is a first step towards further freedoms, such as leave (verlof), a Limited Security Unit (Beperkt Beveiligde Afdeling, BBA) or a penitentiary programme (penitentiair programma, PP). Simply being in the enhanced programme when the decision is made is not enough: your earlier behaviour also counts. Since 1 January 2025, time spent in a remand centre before the final six weeks no longer counts towards this assessment.

Remand centres: different rules since 2025

Since 1 January 2025, the usual six-weekly behaviour reports for promotion and demotion are no longer required during pre-trial detention (voorlopige hechtenis). This change is reflected in Articles 1d(3) and 1e of the Rspog.

Your behaviour is still assessed before you move to a prison. Once the judgment has been received and your sentence end date is known, the case manager prepares a selection recommendation (selectieadvies): advice on your transfer. Your behaviour is then discussed to determine whether you will enter the basic or enhanced programme in prison. The starting point is your behaviour during the final six weeks in the remand centre.

If there are particular circumstances, an assessment also takes place covering the period from six weeks before the selection recommendation is submitted until the actual transfer. Relevant circumstances are recorded in your detention and reintegration plan (detentie- en re-integratieplan). These may concern care, safety, basic conditions for your return to society or your social network.

Who is outside the system?

In principle, the assessment framework applies to people detained in prison. In addition to the separate rules for remand centres, there are exceptions, including:

• detainees who will be released before the second multidisciplinary meeting, in the ninth or tenth week;
• detainees for whom the Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) is seeking an order for placement in an institution for persistent offenders (ISD-maatregel), and detainees subject to such an order; ISD stands for Institution for Persistent Offenders (Inrichting voor Stelselmatige Daders);
• placement in an Enhanced Security Institution (Uitgebreid Beveiligde Inrichting), including the unit for detainees who present management problems (afdeling voor beheersproblematische gedetineerden, BPG) and the Terrorist Unit (Terroristenafdeling);
• detention in the Extra Security Institution (Extra Beveiligde Inrichting), the Pieter Baan Centrum, a Prison Psychiatric Centre (Penitentiair Psychiatrisch Centrum) or the Judicial Medical Centre (Justitieel Medisch Centrum);
• detention under the arrestee regime (arrestantenregime).

Behaviour is assessed differently in ISD units. By contrast, the Intensive Supervision Unit (Afdeling Intensief Toezicht) at Leeuwarden Prison is not excluded from the assessment framework. The exceptions are set out in Article 1e of the Rspog.

How does the assessment work?

Intake, plan and meetings

On arrival, you undergo screening, an intake and a discussion about your pathway through detention. You normally start in the basic programme. A person who reports voluntarily to serve their sentence (zelfmelder) is promoted on arrival under Article 1d(7) of the Rspog.

Within four weeks, your detention and reintegration plan is finalised at the first multidisciplinary meeting (multidisciplinair overleg, MDO). This D&R plan contains goals and actions for your detention and return to society. At the MDO, staff from different disciplines discuss your progress.

After that, reports are provided by staff including your mentor, case manager, work supervisor, education officer, sports officer and trainer. The meeting cycle lasts no more than six weeks. People serving long sentences or life sentences are discussed every three months. A person with at least ten years left to serve is generally considered to be serving a long sentence. Your mentor informs you of the outcome.

Who decides?

Under Article 1d(1) of the Rspog, the governor makes the decision and the MDO gives advice. However, the governor may delegate this power, for example to the MDO. These are not decisions that must be made personally by the governor under Article 5(4) of the Custodial Institutions Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet, Pbw).

Your personal abilities count

You are expected to make an effort, but the assessment must reflect what you are capable of. For example, a mild intellectual disability or a psychiatric disorder may affect your behaviour. Your goals and any support must be adapted accordingly.

The psychological and medical team meeting (psycho-medisch overleg, PMO) can advise the governor on this. In the reception unit and the Extra Care Unit (Extra Zorg Voorziening), the psychologist attends the MDO on behalf of the PMO. Elsewhere, they may attend on request or on their own initiative.

Even if not everything is going well, a positive recommendation for promotion is possible. Predominantly positive progress or a personal explanation for undesirable behaviour may justify this.

What behaviour is needed for promotion?

Article 1d(3) of the Rspog is based on six weeks of desirable behaviour after placement in prison. The assessment covers two areas: reintegration and resocialisation, meaning working towards returning to society, and living in detention and the living environment, meaning day-to-day life together.

Desirable behaviour includes:

• cooperating with assessments and intake;
• actively contributing to your D&R plan and carrying it out;
• taking part in the daily programme and cooperating with work;
• following rules and agreements;
• being willing to discuss and be held accountable for your behaviour;
• not using alcohol or drugs and cooperating with urine tests.

Failure to cooperate with these elements may be assessed as undesirable behaviour. The criteria are set out in the annexes to the Rspog: Annex 1 for detainees and Annex 2 for foreign nationals within the meaning of Article 8 of the Aliens Act 2000 (Vreemdelingenwet 2000).

Work is not compulsory. However, not cooperating with work may affect your place in the enhanced programme. Promotion remains possible if you demonstrate in another way that you are taking sufficient responsibility for your return to society. This follows from decisions of the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming, RSJ) of 29 August 2022 and 4 April 2023.

In principle, denying your offence alone is also insufficient reason to refuse you a place in the enhanced programme or to demote you. The Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) confirmed this, including in a decision of 28 June 2022.

When may the institution demote you?

Undesirable behaviour

If you do not show desirable behaviour in the enhanced programme, you may be demoted under Article 1d(4) of the Rspog. The governor must specify the behaviour that led to this and clearly explain how the interests involved were weighed.

KC 2022/004 shows that a single incident is not automatically enough. A detainee was refused promotion because of one incident, for which a minor suspended punishment had been imposed. His behaviour was otherwise good. The complaints adjudicator (beklagrechter) found the reasons insufficient and awarded €45 in compensation.

In KC 2021/046, there was no explanation addressing possible intellectual disabilities or the extent to which the detainee could be held responsible. The governor therefore had to make a new decision.

Unacceptable behaviour

Unacceptable behaviour leads to immediate demotion under Article 1d(5) of the Rspog. This includes:

• returning late or failing to return from leave when you are responsible for doing so;
• bringing in, possessing or trading prohibited items;
• physical aggression or serious threats towards staff or other detainees;
• escaping or attempting to escape;
• being prosecuted for committing or jointly committing a criminal offence during detention;
• using alcohol or drugs, refusing a drug test or tampering with one.

The governor does not have to wait for the MDO. A broad assessment of behaviour and a balancing of interests are not required in these cases. Unacceptable behaviour can also prevent promotion if you are still in the basic programme. The Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) confirmed this on 3 November 2025.

How long does exclusion last?

The governor determines how long you must show desirable behaviour before promotion becomes possible again. This is at least six weeks. A longer period requires additional reasons. Under Article 1d(6) of the Rspog, the following must be considered:

• the nature and seriousness of the behaviour;
• its consequences for order, safety or the undisturbed course of detention;
• whether the behaviour was intentional;
• your behaviour over a longer period;
• the length of any sentence imposed by the criminal court.

Repeated seriously disruptive behaviour may justify a longer exclusion. Exclusion for the entire period of detention is not permitted: promotion must remain possible.

Written decisions and transfers

The periodic decision must be given to you in writing, with reasons. It must identify the behaviour and considerations that determined the outcome. This allows the decision to be reviewed through a complaint (beklag) and an appeal (beroep). Where a written promotion decision was missing, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) applied compensation of €5 per week.

On transfer, the assessment period does not start again. The receiving institution must take account of the existing assessment period, decisions and behaviour information. Good behaviour in the previous institution also counts. On 18 June 2018, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) ruled that earlier good behaviour in the BPG unit had not been sufficiently considered when placing a detainee in the basic programme.

A new written decision is not always necessary. On 21 March 2017, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) accepted that the receiving governor relied on a demotion decision received from the previous institution and made three days before the detainee arrived.

A transfer following an incident does not automatically mean demotion. In KC 2021/014, there was no demotion decision, and the detainee immediately disputed the information in the selection recommendation. His week in the basic programme was found to be unreasonable, and he received €5 in compensation.

Having to wait for promotion to be put into effect may also lead to compensation. On 3 November 2021, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ) awarded €2 per day to someone who had to wait nine days for a place in the enhanced programme.

Complaints and appeals

You can lodge a complaint (beklag) about a refusal to promote you or a decision to demote you with the Supervisory Committee (Commissie van Toezicht) under Article 60(1) of the Custodial Institutions Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet, Pbw). You can also complain if no decision is made; this follows from paragraph 2.

A separate behaviour assessment, for example by a staff member, cannot be challenged through a complaint on its own: it is not a governor's decision. You can include your objections to that assessment in your complaint about the final decision.

Both you and the governor can appeal against the ruling of the complaints committee (beklagcommissie) to the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles (RSJ), under Article 69 of the Custodial Institutions Act (Penitentiaire beginselenwet, Pbw).

What does this mean for you?

• Discuss achievable goals. During intake and other discussions, explain any limitations or circumstances that affect the effort you can make.
• Ask for specific reasons. What behaviour is preventing promotion, and what needs to change?
• Check the written decision. In cases of undesirable behaviour, the balancing of interests must be understandable. Exclusion for longer than six weeks requires further reasons.
• Pay attention when you are transferred. Report incorrect information about your programme or demotion and point out your earlier good behaviour.
• Keep your documents. Your D&R plan and earlier decisions help you check whether the assessment is correct and explain a complaint.

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