From September 16, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal will start working digitally in criminal cases step by step. From now on, lawyers will receive digital files of police court and subdistrict court cases on appeal via the Mijn Strafdossier web portal.
The Hague Court of Appeal tested the new digital working method and technical link to the web portal for a year. The Hague Court of Appeal now provides digital files in police court cases, criminal cases disposed of in first instance by the subdistrict court, multiple criminal cases in which the suspect is not detained and deprivation of liberty. Now the other courts are also starting to process criminal cases fully digitally, providing files and holding hearings. This is happening at a gradual pace. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal will start September 16 with police court and subdistrict court cases. If that goes well, other case streams will be added progressively. The courts of appeal of 's-Hertogenbosch and Arnhem-Leeuwarden will start with the digital working method later this fall.
Lawyers receive the appeal file, like the first instance file, digitally through My Criminal File (Lawyers Portal). By logging in with the Lawyer's Pass, lawyers gain access to the secure web portal. For more information on how to use My Criminal File, attorneys can consult the manual and view frequently asked questions. The Justice Service Center is also available Monday through Friday for technical questions and support.
With the provision of digital files on appeal, more paper is once again disappearing from the criminal justice system. Still, lawyers cannot go completely paperless. Additional documents for the appeal cannot yet be sent through My Criminal File. That must be done by mail or through Secure Mail. The court clerk then (scans and) uploads the document into the digital file. The Judiciary is working to further expand My Criminal File so that lawyers can also submit and send (additional) documents digitally.
