_*TIPS AGAINST BARS*_

_*On Remand//Voorlopige Hechtenis/*_

This is a catch-all term for the total period you are incarcerated, before
your case is addressed by the judge. This period is split into two parts,
for the first 10 days it is called /in bewaring genomen /(taken into
custody)/. /After that follows the imprisonment (/gevangenhouding/) which in
principle can last for a maximum of 90 days.
The law states precisely in which cases you can be remanded into custody:
- If you have no fixed address (also if you remain anonymous);
- If there is a danger you will re-offend (the crime you are suspected off
does need to carry a sentence of more than 6 years);
- When the crime of which you are suspected of carries a sentence of more
than 12 years;
- When this is in the interest of the inquiry. This mostly applies if they
are afraid you will eradicate traces.

*Custody//Bewaring/*
The order to take you into custody must come from the judge-commissioner
(/rechter-commissaris)/. This decision is confirmed in writing. You can be
kept in a police cell for another 6 days maximum. After that, (or
immediately after the judge-commissioner's (/rechter-commissaris's)/
decision you will be taken to a remand centre (/Huis van Bewaring/) where
you will remain while you are in custody. You might be released during this
period, but they might also want to keep you in longer. This will depend on
the information the prosecutor/ /(/officier van justitie/) has collected in
the preliminary inquiry. Based on the information collected so far the
prosecutor (/officier van justitie/) can decide to take you to the police
judge (/politierechter/), (look under /gevangenhouding/). Another option is
to ask a court for permission to imprison you (/gevangenhouding/).

*Imprisonment//Gevangenhouding/*
After the remand (/bewaring/) might come imprisonment (/gevangenhouding/) .
Might, because there might be a reason to release you. That chance is
smaller if you have decided to remain anonymous.
If the prosecutor (/officier van justitie/) wants you to stay locked up for
longer, s/he has to present a request to the court. The court will question
you, during which you can have your lawyer present, before it makes a
decision. This decision you will also recieve in writing. You will spend
this period in a remand centre (/Huis van Bewaring/) as well. Next, your
case is brought before a judge (/rechter/). This does not necessarily mean
they will look at the contents. The prosecutor (/officier van justitie/)
might need more time for the preliminary inquiry. The case is then adjourned
and will take place at a later date. Until then they can keep you locked up.

*Politierechter//Police judge /*
If the prosecutor (/officier van justitie/) finds your case simple and
doesn't intend to ask for more than 6 months imprisonment, s/he can decide
to take you to a police judge (/politierechter/). The police judge
(/politierechter/) is a single judge qualified to make the same decisions as
a court consisting of more judges.
If, after having seen your case, the police judge (/politierechter/) finds
that it is indeed a simple case, that the evidence has been presented and
that a sentence of more than 6 months is not in order, s/he will hand down a
verdict. If the judge finds that you should be given more than 6 months
imprisonment or that the case is very complicated, s/he might hand the case
over to a court consisting of more people (/meervoudige kamer/). You will
then have to appear again at a later date.

*_Judicial System//Justitie/_*
When you get arrested you don't only come into contact with the police, but
also almost immediately with the judicial system, through the Department of
Public Prosecution (/Openbaar Ministerie/) and the judicial authorities. The
representatives of the DPP (/Openbaar Ministerie/) you will mostly have to
deal with are (assistant) prosecutors (/hulpofficier van justitie/) and, if
you appeal, the prosecutor general (/advocaat generaal/). An assistant
prosecutor (/hulpofficier van justitie/) is a police officer who has had
extra training and therefore can take over some of the simpler tasks from
the prosecutor (/officier van justitie/), like putting you on remand for
example. In larger police stations there is always someone present who is
also an assistant prosecutor (/hulpofficier/). The prosecutor's job is to
prosecute you, so s/he is responsible for the inquiry against you, the
interrogations (including the witnesses'), premises being searched etc.
Regarding the inquiry, s/he is the police's boss. Judges are independent and
don't belong to the Department of Public Prosecutions (/OM, Openbaar
Ministerie/). They have to judge the evidence presented against you by the
prosecutor and your defence against it. A special case is the
judge-commissioner (/rechter-commissaris, RC/), this is a kind of
investigative judge who checks whether the prosecutor has followed a number
of rules in your inquiry. These rules are described in the Penal Code
(/Wetboek van Strafvordering/). You are most likely to see a
judge-commissioner (/rechter-commissaris/) if your house is searched or if
you are taken into custody (/bewaring/).

*_Facing the judge//rechter/_*
*Please note: this is specifically about criminal law.*
A court case requires some preparation on your part too. Please think
seriously about what it is you want, for example whether you want to keep
your mouth shut, or to have a political trial, or to present a mostly
'factual' defence. You should have a lawyer who, before a trial, can request
your file. This file contains all the reports of your or other witnesses'
interrogations as well as the police's findings. You and your lawyer can
obtain a lot of fuel for your defence from this file. In general, a lawyer
will check whether the application of certain articles of the law can
actually be based on the information in the file, and whether the demands of
a good inquiry have been met. It is possible to claim that it isn't clear
whether you did it, but you lawyer could also say that a certain article of
the law doesn't apply here at all. So it suffices for a lawyer to create
doubts, s/he doesnt have to provide an alternative explanation for the
events (like who did do it). You are after all innocent until proven guilty.
During a trial the focus is mostly on the legal aspects of your case.
Political motivations don't usually matter very much. In most courtrooms
you, as the suspect, will sit directly in front of the judge with your
lawyer behind you. On the one side of the judge will be the prosecutor, on
the other the clerk of the court. This is the situation at the police judge
(/politierechter/), where you will go if the prosecutor wants to ask for 6
months or less. If s/he asks for more you will be taken to a different court
(/meervoudige kamer/), which consists of three judges. Everything else is
the same. First you will be identified: this can also be done using a photo,
so it is possible for you to remain anonymous. Then the prosecutor reads the
charges, s/he can also drop things from the earlier summons. Next the judge
will ask questions about the crime of which you are suspected, your personal
situation, and confront you with what's in the file. This is called the
'inquiry during the trial' (/onderzoek ter terechtzitting/). You don't have
to answer these questions.
Then the prosecutor holds a requisitory (/requisitoir/). This is an
explanation for the accusation, and what is so bad about what you have
allegedly done. Then s/he requests a sentence. Your lawyer responds to the
prosecutor with a defence plea stating what it is s/he wants, for example an
acquittal.
Both parties may call on witnesses, but police reports of witness's
statements are already in the file. At the end of the session you yourself
are allowed to speak, this is called 'the last word' (/het laatste woord/).
The judge will then pronounce a verdict based on the evidence presented in
the file and during the session, this usually happens right away.Both you and the prosecutor, or both, can lodge an appeal. The appeal is
dealt with by a higher court, other than that things are pretty much the
same. After this appeal you can appeal again, to the High Court (/Hoge
Raad/). This is only about procedures, it no longer addresses the contents
of the case. Please note that the police judge (/politierechter/) cannot
give you a sentence of more than 6 months. If you appeal, this does become a
possibility. So discussing this with your lawyer might be worthwhile...Also worth considering is that you shouldn't let your defence depend
entirely on your lawyer. Of course s/he usually knows most about legal
things but a defence isn't just about that but also about choices, and you
need to have a big input there. Quite a few lawyers are used to keeping
their defence strictly individual and this could mean they represent your
interest by stepping on others' or by talking nonsense. If you don't want to
be released on the grounds of being hopelessly pathetic, make sure your
lawyer knows this.

*Doing time*
As said before, if you only spend a short time inside there's quite a bit to
keep you occupied and if you are also in touch with fellow detainees you'll
manage to pass the time fairly well. Still, the prison feeling can affect
you after a short time period too. Not everyone experiences being locked up
in the same way, but some experiences are mentioned by many people.
The first has even been scientifically researched and is called the enlarged
scale effect: all kinds of little things suddenly become very important.
When outside you care about your future, fixing up your house, that school
project, inside your view is often limited to getting toilet paper, finding
out what time it is, trying to establish contact with your neighbour etc.
These simple things demand so much attention because they are so difficult
to achieve in prison.
A second experience is that in prison you have practically no privacy. There
can always be someone looking at you. Via the intercom they can be listening
to you. They can always search your cell or bodysearch you, and you depend
on them for very basic necessities (food, toilet, light on or off).
A third experience, and this applies mostly to remand centres (/Huizen van
Bewaring/) has to do with the whole routine prevalent in prison. Every
aspect of your life is controlled by petty rules and bureaucracy. In
principle things don't happen because they are convenient or logical, but
because someone behind a desk decides they must. Your life is fitted into
their tight system, something which to an extent also happens in nursing
homes, hospitals and other institutions.
People who have never done time and think that prison is a hotel always
forget these things. They imagine that if they were locked up themselves
they would do all sorts of things: read books, take classes, do handicrafts.
When they are able to spend some 'tryout time' when a new prison is opened,
reality hits them hard: they become apathetic because all their attempts at
activity are thwarted by the prison system. Please realize this 'tryout
time' is spent under fairly ideal circumstances, when you yourself are
locked up things might be quite different.

*Carrot and Stick*
/'I am completely prepared for them to do everything they are allowed to do.
There is something very childish about locking people up, like when your
parents used to send you to your room. But it isn't like at your parents',
that if you scream loudly enough and bang against the wall they'll let you
come out again.'/When you are locked up the guards and/or police will try many different ways
to make you do as they say. Often they won't need to make the effort, they
make people oppress themselves. If for example you don't want to go into
your cell they have the option of beating you in. Usually it doesn't come to
that because you think 'if I don't go into my cell, they will hit me', so
you comply. They don't need to intimidate.
If they do, then the threat is usually worse than the reality. Firstly
because some reprisals simply aren't that bad, ('then you'll have to go to a
different cell!'). Secondly because they can't follow through on some
threats ('then I'll make sure you'll never get out of here again!'). Thirdly
because sometimes they run out of threats when they do execute a threat:
lots of noise but not much action.
For a threat to be effective you must have something to lose. This is where
'the carrot' comes into play: you are granted favours, which can be taken
away again if you do something they don't like. A favour can therefore also
be a hidden threat: 'you may go to that better cell, if you behave nicely'.
You are expected to make a sort of cost-versus-effect analysis of your
behaviour, the conclusion of this analysis should then be that you are best
off keeping quiet, because then you can go to the better cell. In reality
your treatment depends on much more besides your own behaviour. Think of
their mood, the opportunities available, their interpretation of your
behaviour and instructions they get from others.This is all quite black and white, 'you' as opposed to 'them'. In practice
this contrast often isn't that clear. Firstly this is because 'they' is just
a generic name for a whole troupe maintaining law and order: guards, all
kinds of police and their bosses. Within this troupe there are indeed
several contrasts, it isn't one impenetrable power block you're facing.
Secondly power is easier to use if it's not very obvious this is going on.
In prison power is often covered up: people in the lower regions often
downplay their responsibility ('I'm only doing my job') or they claim to
have the same interest as you. Higher ups make sure they don't get their
hands dirty and hope you will vent on those lower in rank. Language may also
be used a lot: a cell is sometimes called a 'room', and a guard a 'penal
institution worker'.

*Killing time*
'/It is important to get some sort of rhythm going. Recreation is at this
hour, after that I'll read a chapter, then drink tea, etc. And of course
there is also a rhythm forced upon you. Get up at this time, eat
breakfast-lunch-dinner at this time, every evening the light goes out at the
same time... There are many things you don't control anymore.'/You'll have to make a serious effort to pass the time, especially if you are
inside for longer. If you just go with the prison flow, you could become
quite impassive. Making an effort means you are relying on your own
strength, you are trying to do things your own way as much as possible, and
keeping your own value-system. Don't build your life around the things they
do, like extending your time on remand (/voorarrest/) for example/,/ but set
your own goals like reading a certain book or learning a certain trick. Be
as independent as possible, make your horizon extend beyond the prison.
You can reach and maintain this independence by being both kind and hard on
yourself at the same time. You can be kind by not troubling yourself with
lots of doubts, fears, insecurities and problems you can do nothing about
while you're inside anyway. Think of all the things which are going well,
give yourself compliments and rewards. For things you do have some control
over it might be necessary to be hard on yourself. You might be feeling that
many activities or initiatives are pointless. If you give in to these
feelings, within no time you'll become a zombie dividing its attention
between watching television and reading stupid magazines. If you don't want
this to happen, fight those feelings. Kick yourself in the behind and force
yourself if necessary to keep to a rhythm, do exercises, read books, and
take an interest in your surroundings. If you succeed in doing this, be nice
to yourself. If you don't, don't brood on that for too long but start again
and remember not to demand too much of yourself either.In remand centres (/Huis van Bewaring/) there's usually a daily schedule of
activities (/dagprogramma/) which you can participate in (work, sport,
recreation, airing). You have other options too: often you can make phone
calls, rent a television and buy things. During these activities you'll come
into contact with other prisoners, there are pros and cons about this. It is
nice if you meet people you can pull together with, or who can support you
in other ways. But you might also be confronted with some prisoners'
homophobia and other prejudices. Prisoners who cooperate with the prison
system might oppose you. In prisons, inmates usually have an entire
hierarchy amongst themselves. This hierarchy is generally tolerated or
stimulated by the prison governors: divide and conquer is their motto. If
you are in for political actions you are a bit of an oddball which might
sometimes place you outside this hierarchy.

*This website is under construction and therefore not yet complete*