The Position of Victims in Trials Concerning Core International Crimes in the Netherlands

Abstract The position of victims is an often overlooked aspect of Dutch criminal procedures related to core international crimes and victims of such crimes are often unable to effectively claim compensation within criminal procedures. This is in contrast with minimum standards on victims’ rights. This contribution identifies the issues related to victims’ ability to secure reparations. It analyses Dutch national cases relating to core international crimes that adequately portray several practical and legal hurdles standing in the way of providing effective financial compensation to victims in universal jurisdiction cases. Practical hurdles include reaching victims in the context of complex conflict situations, ensuring their right of access to information and to successfully join the process as an injured party. Cases that concern crimes committed outside of the Netherlands have to apply foreign law with regards to the estimation of the damages. This may result in judges declaring that the discussion of these damages creates a disproportionate burden on the criminal process. The latter two issues are also relevant when it comes to the Dutch sanction modality of Article 36f of the Dutch Criminal Code (DCC). The contribution concludes by making recommendations, drawn from international criminal law practice, especially the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Trust Fund for Victims. Another possibility is to permit courts to apply Dutch civil law when estimating the amount of damages awarded to the victim, perhaps when applying the sanction set out in Article 36f of the DCC. Lastly, a potential solution may be an option that is already mentioned in the proposed new Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure (DCCP): introducing separate proceedings within the criminal process that focus on the victims’ damage claim(s).