This contribution deals with the punitive aspects of the Dutch ‘Educational Measure Behaviour and traffic’ rehabilitation course (EMG), thereby using the criminal charge concept (article 6 ECHR) and the alcohol interlock case law as indicators for the level of punitivity. As of 2009, Dutch drivers whom (repeatedly) commit traffic violations may be subjected to an EMG. Failing this course can cause a driver to have his or her driving licence suspended. The Dutch Driving Test Organization (CBR) lacks the possibility to take any individual circumstances into account. The question then arises as to whether the EMG may have a disproportionate impact in certain cases. It is argued that the imposition of the EMG predominantly qualifies as a criminal charge, requiring an extension of the current regime of legal protection. It is furthermore argued that the dominant position of the police officer who makes an EMG report should be reconsidered.

By the end of 2020, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will be operational. The EPPO will be tasked with investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgement criminal offences against the EU budget. The substantive competence of the EPPO could in the future be extended to terrorism and other serious cross-border crimes. This article will first describe the background, structure and competences of the future EPPO. Then the procedural guarantees will be discussed and the problem of ‘forum shopping for evidence’. This problem entails that the choice in which Member State to conduct an investigative measure could be made on the basis of the less stringent rules in that Member State regarding, for example, the right to privacy. The article will end with a proposal on how to prevent forum shopping for evidence.

A comparative legal research between Dutch and Belgian closed juvenile detention centres, focused on the internal legal status

The Life In Custody-study is a large scale, prospective panel study, aimed to examine the quality of prison life in The Netherlands. This paper describes the LIC-study by giving a detailed overview of the data collection procedure, and strategies to optimize response, and presents the first nationwide results on prison climate in The Netherlands. Results show that the data collection procedures utilized were successful in obtaining a high response rate (which was an exceptional 81%) and reaching a representative group of prisoners. Furthermore, results show that the perceptions of prison climate vary across prison regimes, and to a lesser extent across age groups and time spent in detention.

According to article 13b of the Dutch Drug Act, the mayor is authorized to close homes and buildings in case of violation of this act. The closure of these homes and buildings is considered as an administrative sanction with no punitive aim. However, in certain cases it is possible that the application of this sanction could to be considered as a criminal charge. If so, this might have consequences for a possible criminal prosecution, because of the concept that no legal action can be instituted twice for the same cause (ne bis in idem-principle). This could lead to the situation that the Dutch Public Prosecution Service might lose its right to prosecute. In the combat of ‘undermining criminality’ this would be a major upset.

Police and prosecution can appeal to the public for information to further their case. This requires a balancing exercise between the rights of the suspect (and other people involved), specifically the right to privacy and the interest of criminal investigations. Appeals for information and wanted notices require a medium as well. Also, in order for the appeal to be effective, other (news)media need to publish the appeal as well: it needs to be newsworthy and attractive for the public intended. Based on deskresearch, this article describes how an ever-changing media landscape and different media revolutions affect the appeals for information.

Investigative reporters show an increasing interest in criminal phenomena. Dutch journalists may be allowed access to ongoing police investigations on the condition that they comply with data protection legislation. Working in international cooperative projects, using sophisticated research tools and hot sources, journalists by themselves also manage to uncover hidden crimes that may prompt indictments. The article explores possibilities of future collaboration between criminal investigators and reporters, while acknowledging each other’s professional roles and responsibilities.

This contribution discusses the supplementary value of media analyses to understanding the relationship between media and crime. Analyses of media framing and media hypes are discussed on the basis of two cases: the case of New Years Eve in Cologne in 2015 and the “bus incident” of Moroccan Dutch youngsters in Gouda in 2008. The two cases presented here illustrate the significance of media analysis in criminology and its relevance in a media society. Analyses of the media representation and the societal reactions show the influence of media on the image building about crime. Since media are a predominant force of modern society and mediatization is a characteristic of the present tense, media representation has a great impact on the perceptions of crime and punishment, and our reality.

With the development of the ‘digital society’ the information about crime on the internet is increasing rapidly. This creates the necessity for clarity about the boundaries of open source research by law enforcement agencies. However a specific article in the Code of Criminal Procedure lacks. While waiting for this article the police, the prosecution office, criminal defense lawyers and judges are struggling to find these boundaries. Nevertheless are they the only ones that can bring this clarity by informing themselves and exploring what should be legitimate.

In this article we discuss what mediation in criminal cases encompasses, what the position is of mediation in criminal cases amidst other forms of recovery mediation and the question is posed whether mediation in criminal cases demands specific things from the mediator.

#MeToo has played a significant role in the struggle to confront taboos around sexual violence, including the acknowledgment of male rape victims. In this article, the authors have examined reactions at three different moments in time (T1, T2, T3) to Dutch journalist Jelle Brandt Corstius, who shared his #MeToo experience via Twitter. The article shows that the Belief in a Just World, victim stereotypes and rape myths seem particularly useful concepts to examine different positive (supporting, compensating) and negative (blaming, distancing) observer reactions. Reactions are most negative at T2, when JBC’s case least adheres to stereotypes and rape scripts.

Datingfraud is nothing new but it is an underexposed subject. Victims are approached on online datingsites by criminals whose goal is to gain large amounts of money. To achieve this, they start, with a false identity, an online relationship with their victims. In this article research has been done what the needs of the victims are after the offense has been committed. To this end interviews have been made with victims of datingfraud and staff members of victim support. Many victims do not end up with victim support because the police refuse to make a report. Nevertheless, the emotional and legal aid seems to functioning well. However, the practical help leaves much to be desired, especially because employees are not informed about all possibilities there are to support the victims.

Persons who suffer from dementia could potentially commit serious crimes. By studying 22 casus of settlements in cases of serious crimes allegedly committed by a demented person, published on ‘rechtspraak.nl’, the mode of settlement in these cases was established and problems in that field were identified. The group of dementia sufferers proved to be heterogeneous which resulted in a great variety of settlements within the criminal proceedings. However, problems do occur and certain aspects of these problems are not resolvable within the current Dutch penal systems. Reflection on this issue is desirable, as the number of people who suffer from dementia will increase considerably in the near future.

Human traffickers are usually depicted in public discourse as evil villains: the crème de la crème of organized crime. Although this image has also been dominant among scholars for a long time, it has become increasingly controversial. On the one hand, this debate is fueled by discussions amongst criminologists on criminal networks, on the other hand by the expansion of the legal definition of the crime since 2005. Apart from exploitation in the prostitution sector, various other forms of human trafficking are distinguished now, including labor exploitation. This article explores the question of which organizational forms play a role in labor exploitation. Through a review of the empirical research literature on labor exploitation, the authors show that in the field of labor exploitation, there is probably less involvement in criminal syndicates or criminal networks that maintain contacts with other criminal networks. In many cases, labor exploitation is committed by individuals or family businesses, or smaller loosely organized networks that are not necessarily embedded in other criminal networks. For researchers and policy makers alike, it is therefore advisable not to approach labor exploitation exclusively from the perspective of transnational organized crime.

In the ‘participation society’ it is expected that citizens actively contribute to solving societal problems, including health care, immigration and security issues. A somewhat similar responsibilisation culture is visible in prisons, where prisoners are held responsible for their own rehabilitation. This article problematizes the way in which prisoners’ agency is promoted in Dutch prisons, considering prisoners’ constrained agency and the normative expectations that are tied to the approach. This critique is advanced through discussion of the promotion/demotion system that has been used in Dutch prisons since 2014. This system, comparable to the Incentives and Earned Privileges system in England and Wales, espouses both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ behavioural norms. The soft behavioural norms reflect a citizenship ideal that extends beyond compliance with the law. It is argued that these normative expectations tied to agency have a limiting effect on prisoners’ autonomy. This article argues in favour of a shift from the citizenship ideal to an autonomy ideal, which applies the principle of minimum restrictions. Furthermore, access to education, reintegration courses and contact with family should be treated as a right, rather than a privilege, in order to maximise autonomy and minimise the harmful effects of imprisonment.

Reducing the number of suicides in prison has been highlighted as an international priority. To date, however, studies examining prison suicides in Belgium are lacking. Therefore, adopting a retrospective record-based approach, we sought to investigate all suicides occurring in the whole Belgian prison estate during a 17-year period. The results underline the need for suicide prevention among prisoners in Belgium, and echo prior findings that restrictive preventive measures should be combined with psychosocial interventions in order to address the causes of prisoners being suicidal. Such strategies are ideally embedded within a comprehensive suicide prevention policy on a national level.