Crime has increased sharply in the Netherlands since the early 1980's. The Dutch political structure separates responsibility for the police and the other parts of the judicial system. The country uses a strongly developed concept of the criminal justice chain with individual links. The judicial system is experiencing increasing pressures. Many actions have been taken to relieve this pressure. In addition, responsibilities and competencies within the judicial organization have been decentralized. Computerization has been an important aid to these efforts. Much attention has been given to standardizing the use of data and data exchanges and to maintain the information systems effectively. Further integration of information from different parts of the criminal justice chain is likely over the next few years.