Deze bijdrage bespreekt de regeling en praktijk rondom het proces-verbaal van de mondelinge behandeling in civiele zaken, signaleert een aantal knelpunten en doet concrete voorstellen om die knelpunten op te heffen.

In 2021 hebben de hoven en rechtbanken zeker niet stilgezeten in overnamegeschillen. Er heeft zich een mooie rechtsontwikkeling voorgedaan op de volle breedte van de overnamegeschillen bij grote en kleine overnames. Dit artikel geeft een overzicht van relevante jurisprudentie en literatuur betreffende civiele overnamegeschillen verschenen in 2021.

Het rapport ‘Aanpak coronacrisis – Deel 1’ van de Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid (OvV) analyseert de aanpak van de COVID-19-crisis tot 1 september 2020. Deze bijdrage analyseert de juridische dimensies van de pandemische paraatheid, de formele crisisstructuur en kwetsbare ouderen en doet enige suggesties ter versterking van onder meer de Wet publieke gezondheid (Wpg).

In this essay I problematize the phenomenon of multiple problems. Multiple problems have a threefold complexity: (1) it is complex to deal with for those having these kind of problems, (2) it is complex to deal with for aid workers and others working at problem solving organization, and (3) often the relationship between the aid seeker and the aid worker is full of tension. It is because of this complexity that the role of a judge – as problem solver – is limited. Based on empirical data derived from an (ongoing) socio-legal research on a problem solving court in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, this essay provides insight in what kind of impact a judge’s decision actually can have.

Agri-environmental schemes serve to financially compensate farmers for promoting the quality of nature and landscapes on their land. In 2016, the Netherlands implemented a new scheme that is unique in an EU and even global context. Within this model, rule-setting, inspection and enforcement tasks are shared between public actors and private ‘environmental cooperatives’: groups of farmers legally organized as conservation organizations.
With a focus on the theme of inspection, this study adds new empirical insights to emerging scholarship on the interactions public policy and private authority. The study finds that present interactions between government inspectors and inspectors of the cooperatives can mainly be defined as ‘coexistence’, rather than complementary or competitive. A lack of coordination between the two types of actors was found to result in confusion among farmers and missed opportunities for mutual learning by inspectors. The study concludes with three policy recommendations to come to a more constructive relationship between public and private inspectors in the Dutch agri-environmental governance model.

Every human being strives for the experience of a stable identity over time. In order to achieve this, the conscience constantly evaluates whether our self-esteem at a given moment fits that identity. When our self-esteem rises we experience pride, but when it falls we experience guilt or shame. Many of these evaluations are based on the ability to be empathetic, because empathy allows you to estimate how you relate to the other person. Another source of evaluation is being aware of values, norms and rules. In pro Justitia reports on delinquent young people, diagnosis of conscience is an important point of attention. How does the offense fit with his identity and what does it do with his self-esteem? To gain insight into this, the diagnostician focuses his attention on several areas of the young person’s life. Assuming the alleged ethnic-cultural specificity of criminal behavior is a pitfall that should be avoided.

Children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders, including oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or conduct disorder (CD), are known to show little compassion and empathy for others’ suffering, particularly those with callous-unemotional (psychopathic) traits. This contribution addresses the question of what we know about the nature and causes of empathy problems in youth with disruptive behavior disorders, and whether the problems are different among subtypes. The heterogeneity of disruptive behavior disorders is discussed, the complexity of the empathy process, and research on empathy deficits in children and adolescents with ODD/CD. To sum up, (1) it is proposed that different mechanisms may underlie empathy problems seen in children and adolescents with ODD/CD, with or without psychopathic traits, (2) the strength of the empathy response depends in part on stimulus characteristics, also for those with psychopathic traits, and (3) it is advised to use a multimethod approach to depict the empathy process at different levels of human functioning.

Juvenile delinquents appear to be delayed in their moral development, more specific the development of their moral judgment, empathy, guilt and shame. Moral development also appears to predict recidivism. It is therefore plausible that interventions that focus on the moral development of juvenile delinquents could have a beneficial effect on reducing recidivism. However, our systematic review (i.e., meta-analysis) shows that with these so-called moral behavioral interventions the level of moral judgment of juvenile offenders can be significantly increased, by 22%, but that such interventions have no effect on recidivism. It may be possible to increase the effectiveness of moral interventions for juvenile delinquents by simultaneously influencing several aspects of moral development instead of, for example, only moral judgment or empathy. In addition, problems of poor aggression regulation, often caused by a history of traumatic events, may need to be addressed first before moral-behavioral interventions can be effective.

This article explains the role and significance of ethnic and cultural traits in forensic psychiatric and psychological evaluations of defendants. These evaluations focus on the defendant’s criminal responsibility (legal insanity), the risk of recidivism, and advice about the sanction to be imposed. There is an overrepresentation of defendants with an immigrant background in the criminal justice system, while research indicates that cultural and ethnic traits play a significant role in behavioral evaluations of defendants. In this article is discussed to what extent cultural considerations are part of those evaluations, and how they play a role in the expert’s reasoning and the advisement of the criminal court.

In 2020, a coalition against ethnic profiling established a taskforce to handle complaints of people who have experienced ethnic profiling by the Dutch Royal Military Police and/or the Dutch Customs at airports. In this article, 31 complaints that have been received between February 2020 and March 2021 have been analyzed in a qualitative way. The results show that when people with an ethnic stigma are not informed (properly) about why they have been selected, stopped and searched, and treated as suspects instead of false positives, they feel racially profiled, yet take little or no further action in addition to the complaints.

Migrants who must leave the Netherlands are often detained in Dutch detention centers before their expulsion. Migrant detainees fall under the same criminal laws and authorities as persons incarcerated under Dutch criminal law. This means that migrants can be put in isolation cells, for example for refusing a shared room. This article describes the circumstances in the detention centers, and it makes an analysis of European and Dutch case law on the treatment of migrant detainees, specifically in cases of isolation. Considering articles 3, 5 and 8 ECHR and article 47 of the EU CFR, this is problematic, and access to legal protection seems to be too limited for migrant detainees. The article concludes by stating the necessity for a new legal framework, and for more substantive judicial reviews in cases of the isolation of migrant detainees.

This article deals with the legislative proposal in the Netherlands to criminalise staying (without permission) in an area controlled by a terrorist organisation. The discussion surrounding the proposal is focused, amongst other things, on possible exemptions for journalists and providers of humanitarian assistance. This article analyses the newest version of the proposal in light of the rights to freedom of movement and freedom of expression.