The primary objective of the ISD Order is to reduce public nuisance caused by extremely persistent offenders. Another objective is to reduce recidivism. Recidivism can be prevented by influencing behaviour, with due regard to any personal issues involved. In this article the author looks at the arguments the judiciary uses to impose or end an ISD Order. The author notices that the judiciary views ISD Orders as a last resort: an order is given only in the absence of alternatives, and with the requirement attached that ISD subjects are to be put on a programme. The judiciary considers rehabilitation within an ISD framework to be extremely important. The orders are almost invariably imposed for two years, with no deduction of the pretrial detention period. There is reason to terminate the order if the recidivism risk has receded, but there may be other termination grounds, outside the control of the ISD subject, such as negligence on the part of a government agency.

This article describes the relation between the murder on the Walloon social-democratic politician André Cools on 18^th July 1991 at Liege and the corruption case Agusta - dealing with the purchase of army helicopters - in order to reflect on typical Belgian criminological issues in this political organized crime topic. The murder committed by Tunisian hit-men was ordered through the influence of the personal cabinet of Van der Biest, a former minister. During the murder investigation a link with the Agusta corruption case was discovered and would tear down several ministers as well as the former NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes. Due to the existence of especially journalistic sources and a lack of scientific criminological material, the conclusions of this article are strictly personal. The murder and the corruption prove the fact that political organized crime was a reality in Belgium. This case can stand as a scholarly example in the study of political organized crime in Belgium.

The subjects fraud and corruption play an important role in the recent debate on the constitutional changes within the Netherlands Antilles and the ‘status aparte’ of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The Netherlands and the various islands keep passing the blame on one another when it comes to fraud and corruption. It seems there is little willingness to look at the underlying causes or to express self-criticism. In this article an attempt is made to outline what is really going on in the field of fraud and corruption in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Several investigations on fraud and corruption committed by politicians in the past fifteen years will be addressed. Furthermore several socio-cultural, political and economic factors that play a role in causing fraud and corruption are being discussed. In this way the author hopes to contribute to a more constructive debate about the issue of fraud and corruption.