The Dutch abbreviation ‘ZSM’ literally means ASAP. In the Dutch criminal justice system, it stands for a response to a crime ‘as speedy, selective, smart and supportive for victims as possible’. The project was initiated by the Public Prosecution Service and the Police, and it also involves the Dutch Probation Services, Victim Support Netherlands and the Child Care and Protection Board. The goal of ZSM is to assure meaningful and fast interventions, based on quality and effectiveness for society, including suspects and victims. To reach this goal, the Public Prosecutor is situated at the front of the criminal justice chain and triages the high volume crimes to determine the best procedure for a case, in cooperation with the partners.

Cardioloog; ontbinding arbeidsovereenkomst; verzoek afgewezen

Op 20 november 2013 is Richtlijn 2013/55/EU van het Europees Parlement en de Raad tot wijziging van Richtlijn 2005/36/EG betreffende de erkenning van beroepskwalificaties vastgesteld. Dit artikel bespreekt in hoofdlijnen de achtergronden van deze richtlijn, de belangrijkste wijzigingen en waar mogelijk de Nederlandse reactie daarop.
Richtlijn 2013/55/EU van het Europees Parlement en de Raad tot wijziging van Richtlijn 2005/36/EG betreffende de erkenning van beroepskwalificaties en Verordening (EU) nr. 1024/2012 betreffende de administratieve samenwerking via het Informatiesysteem interne markt (de IMI-verordening)

In this article a longitudinal effect study is described of resilience training Diamant. The training focuses in particular on adolescents with a dual identity who do not have work, are not enrolled in an education, feel unfairly treated (relatively deprived), have low self-esteem, and are at risk of social isolation. The training can be considered as a method to prevent development of criminal behaviour and possibly radicalisation. Certified trainers work with small groups of 10 to 15 adolescents to increase their resilience and help them finding their place in society. The present research focused on the following questions: (1) Does this training have a positive effect on self-esteem among the participants? (2) Does social isolation decrease as a consequence of the training? (3) Does the training reduce feelings of relative deprivation and help participants better deal with conflicts? Participants were interviewed before and halfway the training and directly after completing the training. A follow-up measurement three months after the end of the training examined effects on the longer term. In total 44 semi-structured interviews were held. Interviews were written out and coded using a two-step procedure: In the first step two researchers independently coded each interview. Second, when necessary, changes in the coding scheme were made. Then each interview was coded separately by the two researchers and disagreements were discussed until full agreement was reached. The results show that Diamant has a positive effect on self-esteem of participants. Also, participants overall showed an increase in connectedness to society. Third, Diamant reduced feelings of relative deprivation and participants indicated they could better deal with conflicts. Based on these results it is concluded that Diamant is effective in regard to its goals which were evaluated in this study. Limitations of the research and possibilities for future studies are discussed.

In dit artikel bespreekt de auteur het WRR-rapport vanuit het perspectief van de toezichthouder. Hiermee doelt hij op de ‘toezichthoudende instantie’ maar meer nog op de ‘persoon van de inspecteur’

This special issue introduces the topic of cybercrime to Dutch criminology. First, it raises the major substantive issues that computer technology involves for criminology, in terms of crime volume, people involved in crime, and the ways that crimes are committed. Also, it deals with research literature on cybercrime on various topics, such as survey methodology, crime prevention and Internet applications open to justice professionals in the fight against crime. Overall, the article concludes that much research remains to be done in this relatively new field.

Today’s risk based criminal justice policy leaves but little room to tune sentencing decisions to the individual offender’s mental capacities. As a result, sanctioning has become one-sided, being directed towards retribution. However, in the long run such a non-reciprocal concept of sanctioning, implying a denial of the need to facilitate rehabilitation, weakens the social fabric. Moreover, it holds a denial of citizenship towards (mentally ill) offenders. For the past decades, restorative justice has offered alternative solutions to deal with delinquency. Using informal procedures, taking into account peculiarities of the case, including the offender’s mental capacities, offenders are invited to take accountability for wrongful acts. A similar approach has been introduced within the field of mental health services, including the sector of the forensic mental health care. In response to the popular social biological model, a model of restorative treatment has been introduced, implying treatment to be directed towards reintegration, requiring active participation of the patient/offender. Bearing in mind the communalities between both models, we explore the potential of such a restorative citizenship based approach to better the integration of mentally disturbed offenders.

Utrecht, the fourth largest city of The Netherlands, is addressing resolving social conflict by promoting schools to adhere to the Peaceful School Program and civilians and professionals to join the Peaceful Neighborhood Program. The Peaceful School Program is designed to address problematic behavior of youth in primary, secondary and high school education and evolved into a democratic and participatory citizenship program. The Peaceful Neighborhood Program is involving important organizations that are active within the neighborhood, members of the community and stake-holders to adapt peaceful attitudes in daily life, including a mind-set that addresses conflicts by resolving them (together).
These two programs are in the process of ‘conquering’ the whole of the city of Utrecht and every single neighborhood. The so-called Utrecht Model for Mediation is supporting these Peaceful Programs, through empowering citizens and professional to enhance their ‘peaceful skills’ and skills for conflict resolution. Citizens and professionals are being trained to develop this mindset. The Utrecht Model for Mediation is organizing a community of mediators that can be of help. A pool of volunteer mediators is being formed to help organizations, professionals, parents, students and members of the community in case of problems, tensions, problematic behavior of youth groups, etcetera. Professional mediators intervene in case of escalated conflicts and penal cases.

Early studies of female drug dealers suggest that women are marginalized, passive victims. In contrast, more recent studies describe women as skilful and competent dealers. In a Bourdieu-inspired theoretical framework of ‘street capital’, the authors suggest that the truth is somewhere in between. Female dealers can be successful, but they face more obstacles than men do. The illegal hard drug economy is gendered and favours men. In this paper the authors discuss how female drug dealers develop particular strategies to prove they still belong in ‘the game’. Four such strategies are emphasized: desexualization, violent posture, emotional detachment and service-mindedness. These are common strategies for all drug dealers, but the gendered economy forces female dealers to be particularly careful about their business and self-presentation.

Dit artikel beschrijft de gevolgen van de inwerkingtreding van de Wet nadeelcompensatie en schadevergoeding bij onrechtmatige besluiten voor (1) de toepasselijkheid van de bestuursrechtelijke geldschuldenregeling uit de Algemene wet bestuursrecht, die op diverse punten afwijkt van de privaatrechtelijke geldschuldenregeling, en (2) de rechtsmachtverdeling tussen de bestuursrechter en de burgerlijke rechter.

In steeds meer gemeenten zijn buitengewone opsporingsambtenaren (boa’s) in de openbare ruimte actief. Hun taken verschillen per gemeente, maar gemeenschappelijk is dat zij handhavende bevoegdheden hebben. De Rekenkamer Rotterdam heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het opereren van de Rotterdamse stadswachten in de openbare ruimte. De leidende vraag is op welke wijze zij in de openbare ruimte handelen, mede in het licht van de theorie over frontlijnambtenaren, en hoe dit optreden dient te worden beoordeeld.

Following the evaluation regarding the judicial error in the Schiedam park murder (‘Schiedammer parkmoord’), the Public Prosecutor, Police and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) have drawn up an enhancement program to prevent future errors. Part of this program is to fill 20% of the posts within the police investigation process with those who have completed a higher education study of ‘criminal investigation’ and have obtained the Master of Criminal Investigation (MCI) title. One of the MCI’s tasks is to act as counterparties within the investigation research, to reduce the tunnel vision that develops within these investigations. In this way, more attention can be paid to alternative scenarios, so that judicial errors are less likely to occur.

In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op de oorzaken en de oplossingen voor tekortschietend intern toezicht ten aanzien van de kwaliteit van zorg. Onderzocht wordt of dat tekortschieten te wijten is aan belemmeringen in wet- en regelgeving dan wel de oplossing gezocht moet worden in een cultuurverandering. De auteur opteert vooral voor dat laatste, maar constateert tevens dat de wet- en regelgeving weinig houvast bieden. Bovendien komt aan de orde of er bij de vastlegging van de rol van de raad van toezicht ten aanzien van de kwaliteit van zorg de goede keuze wordt gemaakt tussen wetgeving en zelfregulering. Dit wordt uitgewerkt voor drie thema’s: taakomschrijving van de raad van toezicht, verbetering van deskundigheid van toezichthouders en de beschikbaarheid van informatie. In de ogen van de auteur dient de norm in de wet te worden vastgelegd en de uitwerking daarvan kan aan de sectorale governance-code worden overgelaten.

Een vennootschap die voldoet aan de vereisten voor het verplicht invoeren van de structuurregeling loopt (onder meer) bij het inrichten van haar statuten als one-tier vennootschap tegen een aantal vragen aan. Hieraan wordt aandacht besteed, waarbij onder meer wordt gekeken naar benoemingsregels, de regeling over ontstentenis en belet en de toepasselijkheid van het gemitigeerd structuurregime.