Plea deals surge in Netherlands as suspects trade trials for lighter sentences
The use of plea deals between suspects and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) has increased sharply, with roughly 550 agreements in the past three years. These deals, called procesafspraken, allow suspects to accept a reduced sentence in exchange for waiving a full trial. All agreements require judicial approval.
Introduced in 2021 and authorized by the Supreme Court in 2022, plea deals are now routine in drug trafficking and money laundering cases. At the District Court in The Hague, 49 deals were recorded over three years, including 20 on appeal.
“Cases are resolved faster, and suspects get a slightly lighter sentence in return for cooperation,” Laura Peters, criminal law researcher at the University of Groningen, told Omroep West.
Prosecutors may seek up to one-third less than a standard sentence, while suspects generally accept charges, forgo witnesses, and usually do not appeal.
In one example, a man from Zoetermeer received 4½ years for large-scale cocaine trafficking and money laundering; without the deal, he could have faced six years and nine months.
Not all cases qualify. Prosecutors rejected a deal in a high-profile Antwerp cocaine theft, citing subsequent violence in Alphen aan den Rijn and The Hague. Experts say plea deals are suitable only where evidence is strong and straightforward.
