ABSTRACT
In the Netherlands, in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure (Art. 338 Sv), it is only possible to assume that the suspect has committed the crime he is charged with if the court is convinced by the contents of the legal evidence at the hearing (the immediacy principle). As legal evidence only the following is recognised (Art. 339 Sv): observation by the court, statements of the accused, witness statements, expert statements, written documents. A witness statement means: information given in the investigation at the trial of facts or circumstances which he himself has observed or experienced (Art. 342 Sv). Since 1926, however, the immediacy principle has been greatly weakened in the Netherlands by the admission of hearsay statements (hearsay evidence) (Supreme Court Decision, December 20, 1926, NJ 1927, 85 – the hearsay judgment). In a hearsay statement, the witness testifies as to what he heard from another person. The Supreme Court ruled in 1926 that the content of that statement of hearsay may be part of the evidence. In this particular judgment, the Supreme Court also accepted as evidence a report by an investigating officer that included a witness statement.
