Incidents involving persons with ‘confused behavior’ are an important and topical theme in Dutch society. The police are often the first to be involved in these incidents because they are the only public organization that has a 24/7 presence on the streets. In 2019, the police registered 96,000 reports of persons who showed confused behavior. It is therefore not surprising that the police have repeatedly drawn political-administrative attention to this situation and indicated that the limits have been reached. That raises the question of how police officers deal with a situation that has actually grown above their heads in daily practice. In this research, based on the theory of street-level bureaucracy introduced by Lipsky, it was investigated how police officers in The Hague use their discretion to cope with this difficult reality.

At the level of local government, preventive and repressive measures are used within an integrated- personalized-approach to prevent disturbing and criminal behaviour. This integrated approach is only possible when the professionals involved can share data of subjects in order to get good insight of the existing problems and to find possible solutions. The Startbaan study, which focused on the collaboration within such an integrated-approach on young adults with multiproblems and justice contacts, shows that privacy regulations are perceived as being obstructive by professionals. More knowledge about the GDPR, its legal bases and domain specific regulations is necessary for an integrated-approach.

Issues regarding domestic violence and abuse of children are considered to be complex phenomena. Often ecological models are used in order to explain that on different levels – societal, group and individual – factors that are of influence. With some of these aspects can be dealt, while others are more complex to influence. In practice professionals with different disciplinary backgrounds need to collaborate in order to be of assistance to families in need. As a model for collaboration so-called Family Justice Centers (FJC) have been developed. This concept originated in the United States and is nowadays also adopted in Europe. In the Netherlands there is a lot of interest in these FJC’s. In this contribution the impression of two visits two FJC’s in neighboring region Flanders (Belgium) is described. What can we learn from their experiences? What are the challenges of international comparisons of forms of policies and collaborations regarding the care for families and children?

In deze bijdrage staat groepsbelediging centraal. De auteur onderzoekt op welke wijze de rechter bij de uitleg van artikel 137c van het Wetboek van Strafrecht rekening dient te houden met de betekenis van de vrijheid van meningsuiting. De auteur bespreekt daartoe onder meer EHRM-jurisprudentie en de toepassing van het ‘drietrapsmodel’ van artikel 137c Sr in de Nederlandse rechtspraak.

Er is veel af te dingen op de Nederlandse praktijk van de voorlopige hechtenis. Het wettelijk systeem kent veel voorwaarden en nuances die ten onrechte de indruk wekken dat een verdachte niet zomaar in voorlopige hechtenis wordt genomen of gehouden. Die kritiek op de voorlopige hechtenis klinkt nog luider nu noodverordeningen zijn afgekondigd vanwege het besmettingsgevaar van het coronavirus. De rechters die over de voorlopige hechtenis en het voortduren daarvan oordelen, lijken in tegenstelling tot de ernst van de situatie vooralsnog weinig toeschietelijk in het honoreren van schorsingsverzoeken.

Little is known about (former) partners of 1%motorcycle club members. Social professionals working with victims of domestic violence in shelters have regular encounters with these mostly female (ex-)partners. In this exploratory contribution we wonder what is known about domestic violence amongst people with (ex-)partners of 1%motorcycle club members and the consequences of the involvement of a motorcycle club for tackling this violence. Based on thirteen semi-structured interviews with social professionals working in a shelter, external professionals and (ex-)partners, the link between domestic violence and membership of a motorcycle club could not be verified. What this research does show is that safety is the number one priority in working with these (ex-)partners. Furthermore, it shows how complex it is to assess the seriousness of potential threat coming from these 1%motorcyle clubs. Further research on domestic violence in environments associated with organised crime and the cooperation between the judiciary system and social professionals is needed to improve safety and wellbeing for this specific group.

Previously we have published an article about misunderstandings regarding trauma and PTSS. In this contribution we deal with other popular beliefs regarding trauma. We focus on trauma among professionals as a consequence of their work. It is explained that a professional does not have to witness violence or another severe case directly in order to develop some form of trauma. Next to that we focus on the misconception that professionals suffering from trauma can receive treatment without support of their loved ones and social network. It is explained that social support is not only relevant but necessary in treating trauma effectively.

Prison visitation is important for protecting against social isolation during imprisonment. It is also essential for maintaining contacts that are important for life in prison and after release. It is therefore not surprising that both nationally and internationally important policy measures and scientific research have been undertaken on the topic. Nationally, however, limited scientific research is available regarding how many, how often and from whom prisoners receive visits, how visits are experienced and the possible effects of visitation, thus leaving many questions unanswered. Meanwhile, in the past ten years great changes have been made to visitation in Dutch prison policy and practice. Given these recent developments, both scientists and practitioners could benefit from an overview of the current state of affairs of visitation. This article aims to bridge the gap between research, policy and practice by summarizing findings from the Life in Custody study. This study includes a description of how visitation is organized legally, at the policy level and in practice, a thorough review of prior research on visitation and an analysis of the most recent national data on the prevalence and frequency of visitation, while considering important differences between prisoners and prisons.

EU-lidstaten zijn op grond van de Europese marktordeningsregels bevoegd door (unies van) producentenorganisaties en brancheorganisaties vastgestelde landbouwvoorschriften uit te breiden tot niet-leden. Deze niet-leden kunnen tevens worden verplicht een financiële bijdrage te betalen. In de Nederlandse landbouw wordt dit avv-instrument pas vrij recent en dan ook nog eens uitsluitend voor onderzoek en ontwikkeling ingezet. De Europese regels bieden echter ruimte voor een veel bredere toepassing, zoals bijvoorbeeld op het gebied van dierenwelzijn, voedselveiligheid en milieubescherming. De Minister van Landbouw, Natuur en Voedselkwaliteit heeft de Raad van State inmiddels gevraagd welke ruimte zij daarvoor heeft.

In dit artikel zal een inhoudelijk en operationeel normatief kader worden geformuleerd voor de toepassing van voorlopige hechtenis, waarbij de focus ligt op het zo veel mogelijk reduceren van het percentage onschuldigen dat aan het vrijheidsbenemende dwangmiddel wordt blootgesteld. Doel van de bijdrage is het inspireren van de wetgever om het moderniseringsproject te baat te nemen om de voorlopigehechtenisregeling grondig(er) te hervormen.

Fake news, oftewel nepnieuws, is als fenomeen haast niet meer weg te denken uit het discours over de online media. Steeds luider klinkt ook de roep om dergelijke valse berichtgeving ‘aan te pakken’, bij voorkeur via het strafrecht. Maar wat is nu precies nepnieuws en waarom is het zo’n probleem? En welke mogelijkheden kent het strafrecht om deze berichtgeving juridisch te bestrijden?