Are the police at your door to carry out a search? Ask who is in charge, which power the action is based on and whether you are being treated as a suspect. Contact a lawyer as soon as possible, do not obstruct the search and do not make a substantive statement without preparation. Do not delete or move any data or objects in order to frustrate the investigation.
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The police are not allowed to do the same thing in every situation. Entering, looking around, searching and seizing are separate powers. A home is also subject to different safeguards than certain business premises. Below you can read which differences matter and how to protect your position during and after a search.
Entering is not the same as searching
Entering means that an officer comes into a place. The reason may range from an arrest to providing assistance or seizing property. The power to come in does not automatically give an unlimited power to examine drawers, cupboards and digital files.
Searching involves a more extensive examination for objects or data. Which acts still fall under a more limited power, and when there is a search, depends on the nature and intensity of the action. The legal assessment is therefore not determined solely by the word an officer uses at the door.
Ask about the purpose of the visit and its legal basis. The Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure (Sv) contains various powers, including in Articles 96, 96c, 97 and 110. Special statutes may also apply. A general statement that the police must always show a search warrant does not do justice to those differences.
What protection does a home have
A home enjoys special protection. Statutory conditions and safeguards apply when it is entered without consent. In a criminal search for the purpose of seizure, the examining magistrate (rechter-commissaris) plays an important role. The exact route depends on, among other things, the power used and the urgency.
Article 97 Sv contains a rule for urgent situations under which the public prosecutor may search a home without the occupant’s consent if the involvement of the examining magistrate cannot be awaited. This requires authorisation from the examining magistrate. Under further statutory conditions, the assistant public prosecutor (hulpofficier van justitie) may act.
These exceptions do not mean that every appeal to urgency is sufficient. The applicable conditions must be met and it must be possible to review the action afterwards. Your lawyer can investigate who took the decision, what authorisation existed and how the necessity was recorded in the case file.
Do you have to give consent
Consent can be legally relevant, especially when a home is entered or searched. If you are asked for your consent, you may first ask for clarification of the request and seek legal advice to the extent the situation allows. Do not automatically say yes because you think your consent makes no difference.
Refusing consent does not mean that a search will always stop. The police may have an independent statutory power. Distinguish, therefore, between not agreeing voluntarily and physically preventing lawful action. You can calmly state that you do not give consent and wish to speak to your lawyer, without obstructing the search.
Ask whether your position is being recorded. Write down for yourself, as accurately as possible, what was asked and what was answered. The precise circumstances may later be relevant to the question of whether consent was given freely and on a sufficiently informed basis. An argument on the doorstep is not a suitable way to settle all the legal questions once and for all.
What you can do in the first few minutes
Stay calm and ask for the name or position of the officer in charge. Note the time at which the action begins and ask whether a case or registration number is available. If you are given a written document, keep a copy and let your lawyer see it.
Make it clear whether children, vulnerable people, medical issues or animals are present. Practical information about safety is separate from a substantive statement about the suspicion. Also say if you need medication or an essential aid. The officers involved can then assess how to deal with this while the search is carried out.
Ask whether you can call your lawyer and whether your lawyer can be present during the search. The search does not have to wait until your lawyer arrives in every situation. Do not assume, therefore, that you have an automatic right to postpone it. Advice by telephone can also help you record objections and distinguish practical questions from interview questions.
When are you a suspect and do you have to answer
Your home may be searched in an investigation into someone else. That does not automatically mean that you are a suspect yourself. Your position can, however, change during an investigation. When substantive questions are asked, ask in what capacity you are being addressed.
As a suspect you do not have to answer questions about your involvement in the offence. Rights to legal assistance apply to an interview under the applicable rules. Even a conversation in the kitchen can in substance be an interview if you are asked about your possible involvement; where the conversation takes place is not decisive.
Do distinguish between the right to remain silent and other statutory obligations. Not every request for information, identification or cooperation has the same legal basis. Have your lawyer assess the specific demand. A general rule of answering everything, or of refusing every act, is too crude for the various situations that may arise.
What the police may take away
Objects may be seized if the statutory conditions are met. These may include, for example, items needed to establish the truth, items that can demonstrate unlawfully obtained benefit, or items that may later be eligible for confiscation or withdrawal from circulation. In addition, there is protective (conservatory) seizure to secure possible financial claims.
A phone, computer, records, a sum of money or a vehicle may therefore be taken away without it being established at that point that you will permanently lose it. Seizure is not a final decision on guilt or ownership. The legal basis and whether the interest in keeping the seizure still exists must be assessed separately.
Ask for a list of the objects taken and check the descriptions. State if a device or document belongs to someone else, but do not remove any objects yourself. Proof of ownership may be relevant later. A third party may also, under certain conditions, have their own interest in the return of property and bring separate proceedings.
Phones and digital data
Digital devices can contain a great deal of personal and business information. Seizing a device and then examining all the data on it are not necessarily the same act. The scope and intrusiveness of the examination may require additional safeguards.
Questions about an access code, biometric unlocking or access to an account require a specific legal assessment. The powers and their limits differ depending on the act and the situation. Ask to consult your lawyer before you voluntarily provide access, where that is possible, and do not physically resist lawful action.
Do not delete any data remotely and do not let anyone else do so. Note which accounts, devices and data carriers are involved. If your business needs essential files to keep operating, your lawyer can ask whether a copy or another practical arrangement is possible. A business interest does not automatically mean that a seizure must be abandoned.
Confidential communication with a lawyer
Correspondence with a lawyer may be covered by legal professional privilege (verschoningsrecht). Certain other professions also have such a privilege, subject to conditions. However, not every document is protected merely because it was sent to a lawyer or has the word confidential on it somewhere.
If potentially protected documents are among the data, report this immediately to the officer in charge and to your lawyer. Ask for the relevant procedure to be applied. Article 98 Sv contains safeguards for documents covered by a privileged professional’s duty of confidentiality and assigns a role to the examining magistrate.
Do not delete, hide or relabel folders yourself. The question of which data is protected must be decided through the proper legal route. In the case of a large digital collection, it may be important for search methods, selection and access to be carefully arranged, so that potentially confidential information is not viewed without appropriate assessment.
Search at a business address
At a business, various premises and interests may come together. An office, a warehouse and a home above the business do not necessarily have the same legal status. Data of customers, employees and other legal entities may also be present. Make clear, as a matter of fact, which rooms and systems are used for what purpose.
Appoint one internal contact person to gather practical information and stay in touch with the lawyer. That person can keep track of which documents are demanded or taken away and which employees are approached. Let employees record their own observations separately; do not organise a meeting to align statements with one another.
A lawyer acting for the company does not automatically represent every director or employee personally. If individual involvement is being investigated, interests may diverge. This must be assessed at an early stage. An employee must know on whose behalf a lawyer is acting before sharing confidential information on the assumption that it serves only his or her own defence.
What to record afterwards
Make a factual account of what happened as soon as possible. Note the start and end times, the officers present in so far as known, the documents shown and the rooms that were searched. Also describe which objections you raised and how they were responded to.
Record any damage with photographs once it is safe and permitted to do so. Keep invoices or quotes for repairs. Damage does not automatically lead to compensation, but without evidence a later assessment is more difficult. Distinguish between what you saw yourself and what others told you afterwards.
Keep all documents you received together with a list of seized items. Check that your lawyer knows which work, medical arrangements or payments are affected by the seizure. A specific urgent interest may be relevant to requests for the return of property or access to essential data.
What if the search was unlawful
Not every error leads to an acquittal or to the exclusion of all evidence. The criminal court assesses which rule was breached, what interest that rule protects, how serious the error is and what prejudice it caused. The possible legal consequence depends on the nature of the procedural defect and the applicable case law.
A defence must therefore be precise. Which power was lacking? Which room was searched outside the permitted scope? Which authorisation or record is missing? Which data was viewed without the required safeguard? A general appeal to privacy is usually insufficient to assess the action as a whole.
Your lawyer can request the official report of the search, the authorisations and other documents and compare them with your account. Further investigation is sometimes needed. Moreover, the question of a procedural error sits alongside the substantive defence against the suspicion. Even where evidence was lawfully obtained, what it proves can be disputed.
Return of property after the search
Once the interest in keeping the seizure has lapsed, it must be decided to whom the object is to be returned. You can ask for a decision through your lawyer. In the event of a dispute, a complaint (klaagschrift) may, subject to conditions, be filed under Article 552a Sv. Time limits apply to that procedure and depend on the situation.
Do not wait indefinitely because an officer told you verbally that the device will probably be returned soon. Ask about the current status of the seizure and any decision on sale, destruction or return. For goods of great practical or financial importance, acting early can be important.
Support the request with ownership, use and the absence or reduction of the interest in keeping the seizure. The fact that an object is needed for work is relevant but does not decide the matter on its own. The court must also consider the basis under criminal procedure. Seizure of data and return of the physical data carrier may, moreover, raise different questions.
A fictional example of living and working at one address
Suppose a business owner has an office on the ground floor and lives with his family on the floor above. An investigation focuses on the business records. The police then also search a private room and take away a laptop used by several family members.
The assessment then involves, among other things, which power was used for which room, what the actual function of the room was and why the device was considered relevant. The mere fact that everything shares the same house number does not answer those questions. The scope of any later digital examination may also require separate attention.
This example shows why concrete facts matter. A floor plan, a description of use and an accurate list of seized items can help a lawyer assess the documents. It is not a reason to decide for yourself during the search that a room is off limits and to block access by force.
Absent during the search
A search may take place while you are not present. Once you discover it, ask who carried out the action, which case file it relates to and where you can obtain the available records and information on the seizure. Make a factual inventory of what you find without immediately drawing conclusions about its lawfulness.
If housemates were present, have each of them write down separately what he or she personally saw and heard. A jointly reconstructed account can make it unclear whose recollection is whose. Keep messages about the moment you were informed and any documents that were left behind.
Your absence does not automatically make the action unlawful. The applicable powers and safeguards must, however, be checked. Also give your lawyer information about rooms, ownership and potentially confidential documents that those present could not explain. This allows the factual reconstruction to be supplemented without inventing missing events after the fact.
Seizing a phone and examining it are separate questions
The fact that a phone was lawfully seized does not mean that any examination of all its data may take place without further review. In March 2025 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) adjusted its case law on examining data on digital devices following the Landeck judgment. The nature and extent of the interference and the required prior review are important in this respect. Have the specific consent, authorisation, examination order and its execution assessed; an error does not automatically lead to the return of the device or the exclusion of evidence.
Keep the seizure documents you received and discuss the legal options with your lawyer. Read the explanation by the Supreme Court on data examination after Landeck.
Frequently asked questions about searches
Do the police always have to show a search warrant?
Not every power works with a single document called a search warrant. Entering and searching follow different statutory routes. Ask about the officer in charge, the legal basis and any written documents available, and have them checked by your lawyer.
Can I wait until my lawyer arrives?
You can ask for legal assistance and for your lawyer to be present, but the search does not have to be postponed in every situation. Ask for advice by telephone if possible. Calmly make it known that you wish to speak to a lawyer and do not obstruct lawful action.
Can the police also take my partner’s belongings?
The fact that property belongs to someone else does not automatically rule out seizure. The object must meet the statutory conditions for seizure. Your partner may have their own interest in its return and must be able to substantiate ownership and other relevant circumstances.
Do I have to unlock my phone?
That depends on the specific act, the power and the circumstances. A request for a code and an act involving biometric unlocking are not necessarily the same in legal terms. Seek specific advice and do not rely on a general rule found on the internet.
Will my case be dismissed by the Public Prosecution Service if the police make a mistake?
That does not follow automatically. The nature, seriousness and consequences of an error are assessed within the applicable statutory and judicial frameworks. A lawyer must substantiate the alleged procedural defect and the consequence sought in concrete terms.
What should I send my lawyer straight away?
Send the documents you received, a list of seized items and a factual timeline. Also mention any interviews, urgent business problems and potentially confidential documents. Use an agreed secure route for sensitive data.
Assistance during and after a search
Arslan Advocaten can assess the powers used, your position and the consequences of a seizure. Read more about criminal law and fraud or contact us. If you are also arrested, the information on choosing your own lawyer is relevant to the first stage of your defence.
Sources
Editorial team and responsible attorney
Editorial team: Arslan Advocaten. Responsible attorney for criminal law: Melanie Schulpen.
Last editorially updated: 22 September 2026. This general information is no substitute for an assessment of your own case.
