In deze bijdrage gaat de auteur in op de voortgang van de stelselherziening omgevingsrecht (de Omgevingswet). In deze aflevering staat het proces centraal van de parlementaire behandeling van de voorstellen voor de Invoeringswet en de Aanvullingswetten bodem, natuur, geluid en grondeigendom.

In deze bijdrage doen de auteurs verslag van een onderzoek naar bestuursgeschillen die in opdracht van het Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties is uitgevoerd.

Op grond van de Pikmeerjurisprudentie deelt de feitelijk leidinggever in de immuniteit van het openbare lichaam waaraan deze is verbonden. In de literatuur wordt ten onrechte aangenomen dat die immuniteit onverenigbaar is met de Straatsburgse positieve verplichtingen-rechtspraak. Deze rechtspraak verplicht enkel tot vervolging indien de betrokken overheidsfunctionaris een wezenlijk persoonlijk verwijt wegens dood door schuld kan worden gemaakt. In alle gevallen waarin deze aansprakelijkheidsdrempel is gehaald, kan de immuniteit eenvoudig worden omzeild door de betrokkene uit hoofde van ‘eigen daderschap’ te vervolgen. Alleen voor minder ernstige gevallen blijft de immuniteit overeind, maar in die situaties bestaat geen verplichting tot vervolging.

The operational leader, the ‘gold commander’, fulfils a crucial function in crisis- and disaster management in the Netherlands. He is held responsible for the total coordination of all collaborating emergency services and supports/advises the Mayor, the Commander in Chief. Unfortunately, this function has never been very effective in practise, as shown by many evaluations. From a scientific point of view, it is easy to understand why the operational leader cannot be effective in the Dutch crisis management organisation. The operational leader has no authorities and has been seated in an emergency operation centre far from the Mayor. This article examines why this issue has not been solved, despite 30 years of studying and adjusting the Dutch crisis management organisation.

In criminology, it is generally assumed that the high social status of white-collar offenders prevents them of being targeted by criminal law enforcement. But when they do, they suffer greater social and economic damage because of this high social status. Empirical research on the consequences of criminal law enforcement and conviction for white-collar offenders is scarce, and limited to the US and the UK. This paper used biographies of convicted former executives in business and public office in the Netherlands, to analyse these consequences and the process of the ‘fall from grace’ of white-collar offenders. The consequences are described in four life-domains: health, the private sphere, the occupational sphere and the social sphere. The results show that Dutch executives, in line with findings for the Anglo-American white-collar offenders, experience status degradation and suffer much collateral damage of criminal law enforcement. After the initial horror of imprisonment, they endure prison life fairly well. Individual competences and remaining social and economic capital enable them to return to normal life, although they cannot return to pre-conviction levels of social status.

In the 19th century in many Western states, the close relationship between Church and State came to an end and the Roman Catholic Church developed into a major and active player on social and educational level in society separate from the State.
This was due, on the one hand, to the constitutional changes in the Western states from the end of the 18th century, which led to the gradual introduction of the formal principle of separation of Church and State. On the other hand, it was a result of the search for a new position of the Roman Catholic Church in society that also influenced the theological reflection of the Church on society.
The ecclesiastical reflection on the ideal relationship between Church and State took shape in the course of this process in the Ius Publicum Ecclesiasticum. The ecclesiastical view on the relationship between believers/citizens, society and State simultaneously took shape in Catholic social doctrine, which today still offers a model for modern society. In Catholic social doctrine, the believer/citizen is the connecting element between Church and State in a secular society. The ‘state doctrine’ of the Catholic Church is presented in Catholic social doctrine as an ideal image of the democratic constitutional state in which man is central and forms the central link between Church, society and secular State.

According to the Coalition Agreement 2017-2021, the Dutch government intends to develop policy to prevent religious communities from receiving support from abroad if this support comes from so-called ‘unfree countries’. In the article, the author argues that restrictive measures in this area touch upon the collective freedom of religion, which is protected by the ECHR, measures that can only be justified under strict conditions in the light of religious freedom as guaranteed in article 9 ECHR.

Centraal staat de vraag: wat is voor de bestuursrechter een goed hanteerbare wet? Dat is een wet waarmee hij zonder veel problemen steeds tot redelijke, juridisch aanvaardbare oplossingen kan komen. Uit zijn ervaringen als bestuursrechter concludeert de auteur dat daarvoor nodig is dat de wet (1) helder is qua tekst, opbouw en toelichting, (2) juridisch deugt en deugdelijk onderbouwd is, en (3) in concrete gevallen niet te veel knelt. De wet moet HOPE zijn: Helder, Overtuigend en Proportioneel jegens Eenieder. De toelichting van de wet is in het bijzonder belangrijk voor de beoordeling van de juridische deugdelijkheid van de wet. Het is tenslotte nuttig als er goed lopende systemen van terugkoppeling door rechters naar wetgevers ontstaan, om de hanteerbaarheid van bestaande wetten te vergroten en als leerervaring bij nieuwe wetten. Dit leidt tot de slotsom: wetgever én rechter zijn aan zet.

Since the 1970s social integration of the police has been considered as a key element of the Dutch police. This article focusses on the question of the relevance of social integration of the contemporary police. The article is based on interviews with present and former strategic leaders of the Dutch police. This study shows that social integration is still often considered to be a highly important value for the Dutch police, particularly with regard to the growing polarisation in society. However, some of the police chiefs also express their disapproval of the concept of social integration; in their view the concept reminds us of the past. Also, police chiefs are critical of the value of the concept because of its supposed geographical focus. The paper shows that this criticism can be understood as an interpretation of social integration in terms of ‘neighbourhood policing’ and as an operational police strategy.

Following a crisis, questions are often raised about how this crisis could have happened and whether someone is to be blamed for the crisis or its bad management. The blame game can become fierce as actors try to avoid, shift or mitigate blame in order to stay in office. In 2014, a festival took place in Haaksbergen where a monster truck drove into the audience, killing three people and injuring many others. Not enough safety measures had been taken to prevent the tragedy. Many actors were to blame for that, including the local authority which had granted the permit. Other actors blamed for the events were the mayor, the monster truck driver, and the organization organizing the festival. In the end, the mayor of Haaksbergen resigned. Instead of becoming more accommodative in his response as his blame levels increased, the mayor continued to be quite defensive, stating that the permit would be granted again – even with today’s knowledge. As one council member stated it, one cannot defend something which cannot be defended.

In deze bijdrage staat de vraag centraal of, en zo ja wanneer, een evenementenvergunning kan worden aangemerkt als een schaarse vergunning, en – bij een bevestigend antwoord op die vraag – hoe die schaarse evenementenvergunning dan moet worden verleend met inachtneming van het gelijkheidsbeginsel.

In het arrest Amersfoort en Visser spreekt het Hof van Justitie zich uit over vier kwesties: de verhouding tussen de Dienstenrichtlijn en het kader van de telecomrichtlijnen, de toepasselijkheid van de Dienstenrichtlijn in zuiver interne situaties, de kwalificatie van detailhandel in goederen als ‘dienst’ in de zin van de Dienstenrichtlijn, en de status van (in elk geval één) bestemmingsplan binnen het kader van de Dienstenrichtlijn. Het Hof van Justitie schept in drie van de vier gevallen duidelijkheid over de afbakening van de werkingssfeer van de richtlijn. In het vierde geval, namelijk de kwalificatie van detailhandel in goederen, levert de uitspraak geen echte verduidelijking op, maar voorziet zij wel in een aantal complicaties.
HvJ 30 januari 2018, gevoegde zaken C-360/15 en C-321/15, College van Burgemeester en Wethouders van de gemeente Amersfoort/X BV en Visser Vastgoed Beleggingen BV/Raad van de gemeente Appingedam, ECLI:EU:C:2018:44.

For a century and a half, the Dutch police and the army cooperated in combating civil disturbances. It was common practice that soldiers were called from their barracks to assist in maintaining public order. However, to deploy the army against civilians raised fundamental questions about its legitimacy. As a result some Dutch police forces began implementing military tactics and using military equipment to do the job themselves. The high watermark of this development lies in the years between the two world wars, when revolution and civic unrest always seemed imminent. The post-war years were marked by the Cold War and fear of communist insurrection. Militarized units were always kept in reserve. Nowadays, the army still renders assistance, usually not ‘manu militari’, but on matters that require special expertise.

The Royal Military Police (Royal Marechaussee) is an organization of hybrid character, i.e. it is a police force and military force. Due to recent (inter)national developments the Royal Marechaussee has faced some challenges, especially in the event of a threat or near crisis. Those can be analyzed with the model of good governance and its four dimensions: legislation and regulations, implementation, a shared problem orientation and democracy. The Royal Marechaussee seems to focus primarily on the first two dimensions, while neglecting the need for a shared definition of the problem and awareness of the democratic context in crisis situations. This article uses two cases concerning Schiphol Airport to show how the model contributes on the one hand to the analysis of recent threat and crisis management and on the other hand to its improvement.

This article analyses the relation between Islam, politics and citizenship. It analyses three currents within Islam: Salafism, Islamism, and modernism. The central argument is that most modern Islamic currents do not have a concept of politics as an independent ‘field’ where compromises can be made concerning societal problems. The only current that provide the space for a pluriform, open political debate is Islamic modernism. Through its humanism and the centrality of the common good and not the text, modernism embraces not only the concept of politics as free space but also the concept of active citizenship.