A complaint about failure to prosecute

Sometimes the police or the public prosecutor’s office decide not to proceed at all on the basis of a criminal complaint at all in which case no criminal investigation is conducted. Alternately they can also conduct an investigation only to conclude that they will not investigate further or prosecute any suspects. It is possible to object to this. This is done through so-called ‘article 12 proceedings’ by filing a written complaint against the decision by the public prosecutor’s office not to pursue the case with the appeals court. If the appeals court agrees with you, it will order the public prosecutor’s office to pursue the case.