Launch of new statute-of-limitation checker for sexual offences

The Netherlands Police Academy recently launched a new 'Statute-of-limitation Checker for Sexual Offences', an app that allows police officers to check whether reports of sexual abuse are time-barred or not. This determines whether an offence can still be prosecuted. ‘A good statute-of-limitation checker is a valuable tool’, says Heloise Noordkamp. She is the coordinator of the Police Academy’s Sexual Offences cluster and thus has ultimate responsibility for teaching about this topic.

The Statute-of-limitation Checker is a web application developed for employees of the Netherlands Police’s Sexual Offences Teams and Teams against Child Sexual Abuse Images and Transnational Child Sex Offences. The tool will also be used by employees of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the Public Prosecution Service, and lawyers working on behalf of victims.

‘The statute of limitation for sexual offences is highly complex’, Heloise points out. ‘Different legal provisions may apply. These include the statutes on sexual offences that applied until 1 July 2024, as well as the new Sexual Crimes Act (Wet seksuele misdrijven, WSM) that entered into force on that date. In addition, we also have to consider the statutory time limitations stated in the Criminal Code. If you’re dealing with a report of sexual abuse, you have to take all these different provisions into account, so the risk of making a mistake is considerable.’

Criminal offences over a longer period of time

The ages of the victim and the perpetrator also play a major role. ‘Where sexual offences are concerned, we often see that criminal offences take place over an extended period of time’, Heloise says. ‘Take, for example, a child who is abused by her grandfather for years, from when she is four to when she is eighteen. When it comes to putting “legal labels” on the criminal offences involved, we see that the legislation distinguishes several different offences, covered by different legal provisions. This has to do with the age of the victim’.

The basic principle is that all sexual acts carried out with children aged 15 and younger constitute a criminal offence. The aim of this legislation was to protect underage children, and to acknowledge their vulnerability. An exception is made for children aged between 12 and 16 exploring their sexuality together, with mutual consent.

The age limit for sexual majority is sixteen. For sexual offences, the legislator has introduced further distinctions on the basis of age, in relation to both victims and perpetrators. Different provisions apply to 16- and 17-year-olds than to people aged 18 and older. This has to do with adolescent criminal law.

The legislator views 16- and 17-year-olds as less vulnerable and sexually further developed than younger children. For this reason, different provisions may apply than in the case of victims under the age of 16, or in the case of adult victims. For young perpetrators, the legislator aims to offer a more customized approach within criminal law, taking into account the individual perpetrator’s brain development and responsibility.

Legal checks

The new Statute-of-limitation Checker shows which provisions apply, depending on the age of the victim and/or perpetrator. Heloise: ‘This is followed by a conclusion, which includes information about whether there were changes to the applicable statute of limitation during the period when the offences occurred. Arjan ten Voorde is a lecturer in Law at the Sexual Offences cluster. He drew up flowcharts on the basis of the Sexual Crimes Act, to clarify which provision applies to which offence, which age, etc. That formed the basis for developing the Statute-of-limitation Checker. And it was a lot of work!’

‘Legal Blue (Juridisch Blauw), the Netherlands Police’s legal support team, approved Arjan’s structure. Naturally it was important to make sure that the legal basis was correct. We assume that is the case, but we should note that the Statute-of-limitation Checker is merely intended to provide guidance. So no rights can be derived from the content and the conclusions. Ultimately, it is the public prosecutor who decides which criminal offences will be prosecuted. And then it is up to the court to render a judgment.’

New Statute-of-limitation Checker to replace the older version

‘For decades, we had been using the old application, the “Statute-of-limitations in vice cases programme”, Heloise adds. ‘This was updated regularly by the Police Academy and the Public Prosecution Service. When the new Sexual Crimes Act entered into force in 2024, we considered updating the existing application again. But in terms of technology, too, the app was quite outdated, so we could no longer modify it properly. That was why we decided to develop a new app at the Police Academy, because we have the right expertise for the job.’

‘In December 2024, I came up with the first designs for the new Statute-of-limitation Checker’, Kiki Ottenhoff takes over the story. Kiki is a User Experience (UX) designer at the Police Academy. ‘In March of this year, we could carry out the first user survey. We’d made several different versions for this purpose. The user survey was really fun. We had lots of respondents, including specialists who would be using the app in their work, like vice investigators and lecturers. This survey showed which variant worked best. After that, the Police Academy’s Knowledge, Teaching, and Research Development Team really started building the final app.’

Proud of the results

‘We tested the first version of the finished application in a law class that was part of the sexual offences investigator training. In this version, you could only enter the date on which the offence was committed. That was the first time we tested a concise version of the new app. The students responded very enthusiastically’, Kiki continues. ‘Normally they would have to comb through various different provisions, and only then would they know whether a criminal offence was time-barred or not. But this app gives them an immediate answer.’

‘I’m proud of the fact that the app looks simple at the front end. Because the back end is actually pretty complex. That’s because it contains all the provisions on sexual offences and vice, together with all changes that have been introduced in recent years. That applies not only to the provisions on sexual offences, but also to the section on statutes of limitation and all the changes to that section of the Criminal Code.’

‘To make the app, I did need some understanding of the content. It this case, that was sometimes quite confronting, because it’s a very serious topic. But I did find it interesting to learn more about this legislation. It’s good to know that vice investigators will be using this tool, and that it will really help them in their work.’