This editorial offers an introduction to the current issue.

During childhood, a child is entitled to receive special care and assistance. The child’s best interest should be a primary objective. The Dutch government has an obligation to guarantee the children rights. But do the closed youth care accommodations meet the requirements as stated in the International Child Rights Convention, as far as deprivation of liberty and treatment under coercion are concerned? The study concluded that some closed youth care institutions do not meet the requirements as stated in the above mentioned Convention. There is often no possibility of free expression, physical complaints may not be taken seriously, an adequate standard of living is not always provided and the level of education is often too low. Most of the minors indicate that they are bored during their stay in the accommodations. On this basis, limiting the fundamental rights of these youngsters is currently surrounded with inadequate guarantees.

In dit artikel wordt geschetst hoe de kinderrechter zich vanaf 1922 heeft ontwikkeld. De berechting van jeugdstrafzaken dreigde vanaf 1995 haar eigen karakter te verliezen, doch het belang van specialisatie wordt de laatste jaren gelukkig opnieuw onderkend. In verschillende rechtbanken zijn aparte jeugdteams opgericht, die zowel jeugdstrafzaken als civiele jeugdzaken behandelen, soms in zogenaamde combi-zittingen. De auteur concludeert dat jeugdstrafzittingen nog meer moeten worden ontdaan van de juridische sfeer, doch met behoud van de juridische waarborgen van een strafzitting.

Aansluitend op het betoog van Honing uit 1922 over de grens tussen strafrechtelijk volwassenen en kinderen wordt in deze bijdrage een drietal nieuwe argumenten gegeven voor een aparte strafrechtelijke reactie op criminaliteit van jong volwassenen. Deze drie argumenten zijn gebaseerd op sociaalwetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de leeftijdsgroep 18-25, op recent hersenonderzoek en op ervaringen in het buitenland

This article is directed towards two important lines of research in contemporary criminology, more specifically the growing attention for the period of young adulthood and the focus on the concepts of ‘structure’ and ‘agency’. This study examines in a quantitative manner the extent to which both ‘structure’ (operationalized in terms of social-economic status and objective transitions) and ‘agency’ (measured as the perception of personal agency and subjective transitions) are related to delinquency in the period of young adulthood. A representative sample of 1,477 Flemish young adults between the age of 18 and 25 years is used. The results of the analyses offer some empirical proof to integrate the concept of ‘agency’ in future theoretical models for the explanation of individual differences in delinquency and also lead to additional suggestions to further examine the interaction between ‘structure’ and ‘agency’.

Much of developmental and life course criminological research addresses either the onset and escalation of antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence, or the desistance from crime during the adult years. Far less attention has been paid to the years in which adolescents first make the transition to adulthood. Over the last 50 years due to increased educational demands this transition period has become prolonged and increasingly deinstitutionalized, resulting in a new life stage denoted as the emerging adult period. This introductory paper describes the ways in which this newly formed life stage between ages 18 and 28 is relevant for criminology, questions our knowledge on criminal career development during this period and explores new research avenues that may contribute to a full-fledged criminology of the emerging adulthood.

The link between being employed and delinquent behaviour is complex. This article examines to what extent having a job, the commitment to that job and the future prospects of that job are related to delinquency. We use data from the Utrecht Study of Adolescent Development (USAD), a six-year, three-wave longitudinal study, pertaining to a general population sample of 669 young adults between the ages of 18 and 28. Having a job is associated with an increase in delinquency for 18 and 19 year old males. The results for subsequent ages show a trend towards a delinquency decreasing effect at subsequent ages. The effect of work characteristics – commitment, future prospects – is less clear.

Over the last 60 years, attention has been drawn periodically to offenders in different age categories, such as young children, adolescents and young adults, and tor services and programmes that should be available for these groups. In 2011, the State Secretary of Security and Justice proposed a penal law for adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 23. Such a proposal requires a (empirical) view of young adult offenders (aged 18 to 24) and the penal sanctions they receive in comparison with adolescent (aged 12 to 17) offenders and adults (aged 25 to 30). Crime statistics show that prevalence, type and seriousness of crime committed by young adults are different from that of adolescents and adults. Self-report studies show fewer and smaller differences, but this may be explained in part by the more serious nature of offences committed by young adults, which are usually not addressed in self-reports. Outcomes support the idea that a separate approach and specific interventions for young adults are needed. Similarities with adolescents with regard to neurobiological development justify a focus on a more pedagogical and behavioral approach, which is also a key feature of penal justice for juveniles.

In this feature authors review recently published books on subjects of interest to readers of Recht der Werkelijkheid.

Recently, a legislative proposal concerning adolescent criminal law is published. This proposal focuses on an offender-oriented approach towards youth risk and offers a coherent package of measures aiming at persons aged 15 to 23 and therefore aims to improve the flexibility in imposing sanctions around the age limit of 18 years. During the symposium of District Court Rotterdam of March 15, 2012, juvenile law experts commented on the proposal from different perspectives.

Juvenile offenders are confronted with criminal records. When they want to start education, work or an internship after detention, they often need a certificate of good conduct. In the Netherlands in recent years it has become more difficult for youth offenders to receive this certificate; criminal records have a detrimental impact, in particular for sex offenders. International juvenile justice standards stress the importance of the right of youngsters to social reintegration and protection of the right to privacy and should lead to an adjustment of this policy of repression.

Juvenile detention and the custodial measure ‘institutional placement order’ (plaatsing in een inrichting voor jeugdigen; PIJ-measure) are often administered by the court under conditions at first. It is unknown to what extend it is possible to make a distinction between a punishment and a treatment measure looking at both conditional penalties. In order to gain more information about the differences and similarities between these conditional penalties, the verdicts of juvenile offenders have been studied. The study involves a group of juvenile offenders with a conditional PIJ-measure and a group of juvenile offenders with a conditional juvenile detention. The results reveal that there are considerable similarities between the two groups. The high prevalence of behavioural problems and disorders in the group juvenile offenders with a conditional juvenile detention is particularly notable. Conditional juvenile detention may include treatment of the behavioural problems and disorders, but if the conditional juvenile detention is transformed into unconditional juvenile detention there will be no individual and specific treatment of these disorders.

In restorative thinking it is often assumed that the involvement of volunteers, almost naturally, flows from its values and aims. But are there really convincing arguments that account for, justify or even necessitate an active policy on volunteering in restorative justice practices?This contribution focuses on the moderate view on restorative justice as developed in the Belgian context. It is argued that this approach offers a variety of reasons for developing a volunteers-programme. Two central issues in a moderate view on restorative justice are essential to understand the value of volunteering in restorative justice practices. Such a view sees 1) crime as a multi-layered phenomenon, and 2) takes participative and communicative justice as its central aim.

This article provides information about the results of the experimental project the Courthouse of Amsterdam undertook in 2010-2011 concerning court-connected penal mediation. In The Netherlands, the majority of the restorative projects that have been undertaken, have not been connected to the penal process. The authors describe the positive results, concerning both victims and offenders, the experiences of the lawyers, public prosecutors and judges involved. Various recommendations are made to improve implementation of a court-connected system of penal mediation in The Netherlands.

Bij de ambtelijke voorbereiding van wetgeving wordt veelvuldig overleg gevoerd met belanghebbende partijen. Recent verricht empirisch wetgevingsonderzoek Naar een glazen wetgevingshuis? laat zien dat gedurende het proces sommige belanghebbende partijen worden uitgesloten en andere worden ingesloten. Het proces van insluiten en uitsluiten kan een partijdig wetgever in de hand werken. Het ‘fasenmodel’, een analysemiddel ontwikkeld in het wetgevingsonderzoek, laat zien dat drie fases van belangeninbreng en -afweging te onderscheiden zijn en per fase belanghebbende partijen worden toegelaten en buitengesloten. Dit model staat in deze bijdrage centraal. De bijdrage eindigt met een oproep tot vastlegging van processuele kwaliteitsnormen en enkele concrete mogelijkheden tot verbetering.