Samenvatting

The (be) modernized Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure offers the judge a conditional power to pronounce a final judgment after mediation in criminal cases (article 573 DCPC-new). In so doing, the legislature is responding to the desire of the criminal court to be able to provide customized solutions in the handling of criminal cases brought before it. This end-of-case statement implies a substantive correction to the prosecution monopoly of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, but does justice to the principle of subsidiarity that underlies opportune criminal justice. Moreover, it is in line with the broader debate within the Dutch legal discourse on responsive justice.