Some 675 people were jailed last year for not paying court-ordered damages, fines
In 2024, 675 people in the Netherlands were imprisoned for failing to pay court-ordered compensation, according to the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB). Each year, roughly 2,000 “authorizations for detention” are issued when convicted individuals do not comply with financial penalties.
Most of these orders are issued by judges and the Public Prosecution Service to enforce the payment of compensation to victims. About one-third of those ordered are actually jailed, CJIB figures show.
Convicted individuals can be held for up to one year, depending on the original sentence. CJIB spokesperson Jeichien de Graaff emphasized that imprisonment does not cancel the debt. “The compensation remains due. Substitute imprisonment no longer exists,” de Graaff told AD. “But once they agree to a payment plan and make an initial installment, they are released.”
Compensation is typically awarded in criminal cases where a court finds a defendant guilty and a victim is entitled to restitution. In serious violent or sexual offense cases, the government advances the full compensation; in other cases, victims receive a partial advance. The CJIB then attempts to collect the remaining amounts from offenders.
Convicted individuals have multiple options for payment plans, which can extend repayment over years. “Sometimes someone is incarcerated and cannot, or can barely, pay. But there are also people who delay payment as long as possible, and those who do not respond or have disappeared. Then we have to track them down,” de Graaff told AD.
