Sanctions 2025

NETHERLANDS Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sebastiaan Bennink, Sally Eshun, Siqi Zhao and Daniel Webb, Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz

Dutch Guidelines On 22 November 2024, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service introduced guidelines for self-reporting, co- operation and self-investigation in cases of criminal offences (the “Guidelines”) which came into effect on 1 January 2025. According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, the motivation for the Guidelines lies in the “great value” that self-reporting can bring in the detec - tion and prosecution of criminal offences. It is also acknowledged that self-reporting allows for criminal offences to come to light that might have otherwise remained undetected, and that co-operation between the reporting party and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service can, for instance, improve the quality of avail - able information and the efficiency of any investigation conducted. It is further explained that better insight into the unlawful conduct may also aid the preven - tion of similar criminal offences from being committed within the sector in question. The justification of the Guidelines reflects the practical approach with which the Dutch Public Prosecution Service approaches investigations of economic finan - cial criminal offences. In view of the fact that these sorts of crimes often indeed go undetected, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service offers an incentive for legal entities to come forward in exchange for the possibil - ity of a reduced sentence. The Guidelines provides instructions on self-reporting, co-operation in a crimi - nal investigation and self-investigation. If the Dutch Public Prosecution Service considers that self-reporting significantly contributes to the investi - gation and prosecution, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service may apply a fine reduction of up to 25%. The conditions that must be met to qualify for (part of) the penalty reduction include: • a complete, clear, and structured written report; and • full submission of all available data and (source) documents concerning the persons involved, all potential criminal offences, and any (in)direct dam - ages and unlawful profits.

Importantly, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service retains discretion particularly with regard to the severity and intentionality of any offence. The Dutch authorities recognise their role in the enforcement of EU sanctions given the country’s economic position in terms of its major port, and its popularity when it comes to establishing holding companies. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service’s announce - ment in April 2025, in which they disclosed the criminal prosecution of Dutch shipbuilder Damen, was seen as a significant development. The allegations concerned, among other things, a violation of the Sanctions Act 1977 over a period of several months in the second half of 2022. The investigation concerns goods and technology that are said to be contributing to the mili - tary and technological strengthening of Russia, and to the development of its defence and security sector. Other allegations of sanctions violations were brought to light in an investigation by the Dutch public broad - caster in December 2024. Here, it was reported that European parts for a shipbuilding project called Pro - ject 5712, designed by Damen before the start of the war, ended up in Russia despite the sanctions in place. According to news reports, shipyards in Russia managed to obtain these parts via entities in Turkey and Hong Kong, and at least some of the parts appear to have come from Damen itself. The news report fur - ther noted that many of the Harmonized System (HS) codes for products sent fell under Article 3 of Council Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions in destabilis - ing the situation in Ukraine. Its review of the Russian import databases indicated that many products for Project 5712 remained the same both before and after the implementation of the relevant sanctions, and only the shipper changed. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service announced that the criminal case will likely be initiated in the second half of 2025 with a pre-trial hearing. Seeing that the Dutch Public Prosecution Service approaches investigations into sanctions vio - lations fairly rigorously at this stage after many rounds of EU sanctions packages and continued efforts to close remaining loopholes, companies may be incen - tivised to self-report in order to avoid steep fines and reputational damage.

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