Criminal Law Firm in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Meijers Canatan Lawyers

Herengracht 466
Amsterdam 1017CA
Netherlands

+31 20 6383606

+31 20 6234549

www.meijerscanatan.nl/indexeng.htm

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Law Firm Overview

Meijers Canatan Lawyers is a criminal defense law firm located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Our firm operates both in the entire country as well as globally. The lawyers have expertise in all practice areas within the scope of criminal law including Supreme Court cases, extradition and European Court of Human Rights procedures. Lawyers at the firm are members of the Dutch Bar Association, the Dutch Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the European Criminal Bar Association and the Dutch Association of Young Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Languages: Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Economic Criminal Law; International Criminal Law; Supreme Court Procedures; European Court of Human Rights Procedures; Kidnapping; Skimming; Criminal Organizations; Vice; Violence; People Trafficking.

Areas of Law Description

Our lawyers have expertise in different categories. These are:

- General Criminal Law

At Meijers Canatan Lawyers, all lawyers are experts in criminal law and have dealt with many high profile national and international cases. Cases include murder and manslaughter, kidnapping, skimming, criminal organizations, vice, violence, drugs and people trafficking. Firm members have the necessary experience in press relations. A person caught up in criminal proceedings often has to deal with different judicial bodies. In the Netherlands, there are four bodies that are involved in criminal proceedings: the subdistrict court, the district court, the court of appeal and the Supreme Court.

- Fraud and Economic Criminal Law

The integrity of economic and financial transactions is coming in for increasing scrutiny and being allotted an ever-larger investigation budget. That means that companies, financial bodies and government agencies are increasingly faced with criminal investigations to examine possible embezzlement. High-profile scandals in the Netherlands in recent years, for example concerning investment funds and price-rigging in the construction industry, are just two examples. This field can also include breaches of environmental legislation or of supervisory legislation for the securities industry etc. Lawyers at Meijers Canatan Lawyers have built up an enormous expertise in assisting ordinary individuals, companies and local governments in economic criminal law.

- International Criminal Law

Crime is increasingly committed on an international scale and is increasingly being investigated by the investigation agencies in various countries. This means that a criminal law attorney is increasingly dealing with evidence obtained outside national borders, and with Dutch suspects being convicted outside the Netherlands. In short, this growing internationalization has all kinds of repercussions. Dutch investigation agencies are often requested to assist their foreign colleagues, and this means that specialized Dutch criminal law attorneys are frequently requested to give an opinion on the legitimacy of that Dutch assistance. Our firm’s attorneys are extremely specialized in providing legal assistance with an international element and have a wide network of specialized criminal law attorneys all around the world.

- Supreme Court Procedures

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands, located in The Hague, examines whether the lower court observed proper application of the law in reaching its decision. At this stage, the facts of the case as established by the lower court are no longer subject to discussion. The appeal in cassation therefore fulfills an important function in promoting unity of law. Suspects are not allowed to defend themselves during the Supreme Court procedure due to its legal complexity. Lawyers at Meijers Canatan Lawyers have a longstanding record in this field and frequently assist and advise both clients and other lawyers before and during this procedure.

- European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg was established under the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 to monitor compliance by Signatory Parties. The European Convention on Human Rights, or formally named Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, is one of the most important conventions adopted by the Council of Europe. All 47 member states of the Council of Europe are signatories of the Convention. Applications against Signatory Parties for human rights violations can be brought before the Court either by other States Parties or by individuals. The firm has a respectable track record in this field, for instance with regard to violations by the Dutch government of the right to be present at trial and the right to legal assistance of one's own choosing, the infringement of the presumption of innocence and an ongoing case on the right to question witnesses.

- Extradition

Extradition is the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted person. Since the European Arrest Warrant has come into effect more and more persons have been surrendered to other European countries. Lawyers at Meijers Canatan Lawyers are experts in this practice area especially when the European Arrest Warrant is concerned as the only court that deals with these types of surrender cases is the court in Amsterdam.