How to file a complaint

Complaints about the AIVD

The Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is politically accountable for the AIVD and therefore responsible for handling complaints.

It is possible to file a complaint regarding any (putative) action by the AIVD or the omission thereof. A complaint may concern any employee of the AIVD, or anyone who operated under our responsibility, for example employees of the police's intelligence service (ID) or employees of "special services providers" that handle certain tasks for the AIVD.

Terms for submitting complaints

You may submit your complaint immediately or in any case within a year of the occurrence of the problem about which you wish to file the complaint. After that statutory period, the Minister is not formally required to take your complaint into consideration.

There are a few other cases in which the Minister is not obliged to handle a complaint, e.g. when your complaint concerns a decision with regard to which you could have filed an appeal or initiated legal proceedings.

Read more about this in the brochure 'Internal Right of Complaint booklet' (in Dutch).

Ways in which you can file a complaint

A complaint can be submitted verbally, but it is recommended to do so in writing. Be as specific as possible about times and dates and the description of the nature of the complaint. The complaint also has to contain your name and address and be dated and signed.

Where to file your complaint

You can address your complaint to:

Minister van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties
Postbus 20011
2500 EA Den Haag

It is also possible to use the digital contact form. Please make sure to mention it concerns a complaint in the 'Subject' field.

To send your complaint by mail, please use the following address:

Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst
Afdeling Juridische Zaken/Klachten
Postbus 20010
2500 EA Den Haag
The Netherlands

Complaints procedure

The Minister is obligated to answer your complaint within ten weeks. If this deadline is not feasible, the Minister can postpone their answer once for a four-week period. You will be informed of this extension. Further postponement is only possible if you agree to this explicitly and in writing.

If your complaint is found to be admissible, it will be forwarded to the Oversight Committee for the Intelligence and Security Services (Commissie van Toezicht op de Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdiensten, CTIVD). This committee will invite you to explain your complaint, unless the complaint is deemed unfounded or you waived the right to be heard by the committee.

The committee will also invite the person(s) involved in the complaint to give their view of events. Furthermore, the CTIVD will conduct research in the files of the AIVD.

The committee writes an advice based on its review of the case, which is sent to the Minister. The Minister will then make a decision in which the CTIVD's advice is taken into consideration.

If your complaint is found to be inadmissible, the CTIVD will not be consulted and you will receive notice thereof directly from the Minister.

Follow-up for the complaint procedure

If you are not satisfied with the answer you have received from the Minister, you can submit your case to the National Ombudsman ('Nationale Ombudsman').