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Implementation
whether the police take action on the grounds of Article 110 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure or
Article 551 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure. 348
All manner of investigation activities may be employed in a search carried out pursuant to Article
110 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure, for example taking photographs in the dwelling. Thorough
searches for indicators may also be carried out to support the investigation. This Article therefore
offers more possibilities than Article 551 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure. However, it
is sometimes difficult to obtain permission from the examining judge for a search on the grounds
of Article 110 of the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure, particularly if it concerns older cases. In some
regions, the means offered by Article 551 are therefore chosen. In that case, the main occupant is
ordered to surrender the data storage medium. The main occupant must then be prepared to lend
his/her cooperation and comply with the demand. (Other) search activities are not possible in that
case, however. If the suspect refuses to cooperate, the activities at the scene are halted and the
examining judge may yet be called in. This situation hardly ever occurs, according to the regional
police forces (such as Utrecht). 349 The advantages of invoking Article 551 of the Dutch Code of
Criminal Procedure are first of all that this option is less labour-intensive and therefore places less
of a burden upon capacity. Nevertheless, although the investigation is less thorough, evidence can
still be gathered, the victim’s identity can be searched for and interventions can be taken in relation
to the perpetrator. The experiences of the investigating officers involved has taught us that in most
cases, when faced with a demand pursuant to Article 551 of the Dutch Criminal Code, suspects lend
their cooperation and also make a statement. 350 A possible disadvantage of action taken pursuant
to Article 551 is that, particularly where a large team is involved in the action, the degree to which
the main occupant freely lends his/his cooperation is open to question.
Efficacy of detection
During the investigation, the process of detection should focus on the identification of the victims and
the perpetrators of sexual abuse, and the production of child abuse material. The extent to which these
aims are achieved can be deduced from the number of victims that have been traced.
The national child pornography monitor 2009 showed that the regional police forces processed 893 cases
in 2008. A little more than 40 victims of sexual abuse and of the production of child abuse material were
348 In the event that it is suspected that a criminal offence described in Article 240b of the Dutch Criminal
Code has been committed, there are two types of powers available to the police and the Public
Prosecution Service that may result in the seizure of items such as data storage media. A search can
be carried out in a dwelling under the guidance of an examining judge pursuant to Article 110 of the
Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure (Article 97 can be invoked in urgent cases). In addition, in the event
of a criminal offence as described in Article 240b of the Dutch Criminal Code, Article 551 of the Dutch
Code of Criminal Procedure provides the officers stated in Article 141 of the Dutch Code of Criminal
Procedure with powers to demand the surrender of items for seizure and to proceed to seize all items
capable of storing data (Implementation of Provisions concerning child pornography, paragraph 4.3).
Many regional police forces invoke multiple legal grounds for seizure of items, whereby they act in
accordance with the case in question, as has been shown in the Korpsmonitor 2010, p.20.
349 Programme of Improvements in Tackling <strong>Child</strong> <strong>Pornography</strong>, 2011, p.20.
350 Information supplied verbally by the national Public Prosecutor in relation to child pornography.
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