Naar aanleiding van een door socioloog Bas van Stokkom georganiseerde conferentie over de grenzen van slachtofferemancipatie schetst de auteur een korte mentaliteitsgeschiedenis van de versterkte positie van het slachtoffer in strafrecht en samenleving sinds de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het woord slachtoffer heeft niet alleen in verschillende tijden maar ook in verschillende contexten een andere lading gekregen. De auteur behandelt de vraag waar de theoretische en praktische grenzen van de emancipatie van het slachtoffer in het strafrecht liggen.

Restorative justice has developed into a recognized sanction or intervention in several countries. Literature shows that restorative justice is experienced as a procedural just approach by participants. Furthermore, a strong rejection of the behavior of the violators would reinforce reintegrative shaming in the process. Finally, stopping crime (desistance) could be achieved if the restorative justice approach would include reconstructing the self-image of the participants. This systematic literature review examines to what extent restorative justice contributes to compliant behavior by individuals and corporations. Although direct effects of restorative justice on compliance and recidivism fail to appear, procedural justice and reintegrative shame are positively affected. The results offer practical implementations and challenges for further research.

In zijn dissertatie verkent de Duitse jurist Philipp Dördelmann de problematiek van de aansprakelijkheid voor schade die deelnemers aan sport en spel elkaar toebrengen. Met behulp van een helder referentiekader, namelijk de eigen aard van de beoefende sport- of spelactiviteit (‘Typizität’) enerzijds en de wederzijdse kans van deelnemers om bij sport en spel schade te lijden (‘Reziprozität’) anderzijds, tracht hij antwoord te geven op de vraag waarom er in geval van aansprakelijkheid voor schade van deelnemers die tijdens sport en spel met elkaar wedijveren, kan worden afgeweken van de zorgvuldigheidsnorm die in het aansprakelijkheidsrecht van toepassing zou zijn bij schadegevallen die zich buiten sport- en spelsituaties voordoen.

Op 20 juni 2018 verdedigde de auteur succesvol zijn doctoraal proefschrift over het medisch ongeval zonder aansprakelijkheid. Dit begrip omvat een nieuw, subjectief vergoedingsrecht voor slachtoffers van medische ongevallen, los van de aansprakelijkheid van een zorgverlener, en werd ingevoerd door de wet van 31 maart 2010 betreffende de vergoeding van schade als gevolg van gezondheidszorg. Deze bijdrage bevat enkele krachtlijnen met betrekking tot de invulling van dit begrip.

In dit themanummer wordt bijzondere aandacht gegeven aan sanctiewetgeving. In dit redactioneel wordt ingegaan op de mogelijkheden om betrokkenheid van ondernemingen bij ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen aan te pakken, naast het gebruik van de Sanctiewet. Verkend wordt wat de aard en omvang van dit fenomeen is en welke juridische en niet-juridische middelen worden ingezet om de betrokkenheid van ondernemingen bij ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen te voorkomen en wat daarvan het effect kan zijn. Vervolgens zullen de beschikbare juridische middelen en quasi-juridische reacties en het gebruik daarvan worden geïnventariseerd. Ten slotte wordt gereflecteerd op de mogelijke effecten van het gebruik van deze instrumenten ter preventie van de betrokkenheid van ondernemingen bij ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen.

This study describes the trend in victimization of homicide in the Netherlands in the period 1992-2016. Using data from the Dutch Homicide Monitor, the findings show that the homicide rate has been falling since the 1990s. This decrease is the greatest among male and female victims between the ages 20 and 39. This findings emphasize the importance of shifting the discussion about the general homicide drop to an in-depth analysis of gender and age of victims of homicide.

Attempting to understand the Greek narrative of crisis, this paper examines the most prominent forms of violence that emerged in the period of acute economic recession and political upheaval in Greece namely structural, institutional and anti-institutional violence. This paper aims to highlight existing theoretical gaps and avoid common fallacies of the current body of knowledge. In contrast to some of the more common features of the discussion on violence, this note sets out to: a) acknowledge that violence is not necessarily a physical act, b) acknowledge that the outcomes of violence performances might not be physical either, c) specify and adequately distinguish agency and structural dynamics and d) address the cultural and contextual aspects of violence. Vital to this endeavor is to acknowledge, identify and understand the interactive relation between different forms of violence that emerge during the same period of time in a context in which conflict escalates.

Based on a retrospective analysis of six large scale and fatal fires in the Netherlands, an improvement in terms of meeting the needs of victims can be seen. A comparison of the legal settlement of these fires shows mayor differences in the fulfilling of different aspects of social justice that are identified in social psychology. Two victim needs commonly associated with retributive justice – financial compensation and a thorough, neutral investigation into the causes of the disaster – were fulfilled to a higher degree after the most recent fires than after those that occurred decades ago. The legal settlement after the New Year’s fire in Volendam (2001) appears – at least on paper – to have been more just from the victim’s point of view than the ones after the other incidents. Empirical research into the experienced social justice after the New Year’s fire can be valuable to assess the factors that can lead to a just settlement after disasters.

Crises and disasters can seriously affect the health, well-being and functioning of the people involved. From a governance perspective, it is important that public leaders and crisis managers are aware of what the psychosocial dimension of crisis management entails. The objective of the current contribution is to analyse dilemmas and challenges described in evaluations of crises that occurred in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2016. Thirty-six evaluations were analysed against the background of a theoretical framework combining crisis leadership tasks and psychosocial support principles along the crisis life cycle. Public leaders and crisis managers had to deal with classical crisis problems concerning coordination, collaboration and communication. Other recurring themes were linked to social media, and the tension between tasks such as meaning making (social recognition), account giving and learning. Moreover, the analysis illustrates how difficult it is to gain insight into the needs, problems and vulnerabilities of the individuals and groups affected.

Whereas the starting point of victimisation is clearly marked by a co-occurence of harm and wrong, the end of victimhood is not as straightforward. What is more, because victimisation is a social construct, the label of ‘victim’ is established in social interaction, meaning that third party observers have a role in the understanding of the (limits of) victimisation. In this article, I suggest that third party observers may understand attempts at restorative justice, more specifically, an apology, as an indicator of recovery of the victim. If this is true, they may expect the victim to decrease emotional display that signals victimisation after receiving an apology. If the victim continues to display similar signals of victimisation, this may result in negative victim-oriented responses. In an exploratory repeated measures vignette study, I show that third party observers evaluate the victim less positively after the victim received an apology than before they received this apology. The results imply that in understanding the (limits of) victimhood, we should consider the dynamics between victim and offender but also a broader circle of third-party observers. This is also important for restorative justice.

The authors discuss reparations, with particular attention to programs launched to do justice to the victims of the Holocaust. While focusing on the compensation scheme of the Dutch Railways to the victims of the transports during the Second World War, they examine in which respects the suffering and victimization of some victim groups are not or insufficiently recognized. They compare the establishment of the compensation scheme and the procedure for repayment with findings from victimological research into the recognition of victimization and reparation, including the symbolic value of compensation, recognition of suffering, inclusion and exclusion of stakeholders, and victim participation. The analysis concludes with a few considerations about how secondary victimization could have been prevented.

Compared to victims, relatively little is known about the role of offenders’ emotions, needs and intentions in their (voluntary) decision to participate in victim-offender mediation (VOM). Insight into this decision process among offenders is important, as it may explain (part of) the positive outcomes participation in VOM can have for them, as well as for victims. Based on the work of Shnabel and Nadler (2008; 2015), we predicted that the need to restore their moral image is an important, underlying explanation for why offenders participate in VOM. To test this, we sampled 91 victim-offender mediation cases from the Dutch mediation agency Perpectief Herstelbemiddeling based on pre-defined characteristics. We approached the mediators who handled these cases and asked them to indicate the emotions, need to restore the moral image and intentions of the offenders in these cases. Consequently, we examined how these variables predicted offenders’ actual willingness to participate (or not) in these cases. Results indicated that the need to restore the moral image is indeed an important underlying factor in offenders’ decision to participate in VOM: according to mediators’ answers, offenders who felt more remorse about their crime, felt a stronger need to restore their moral image, which in turn predicted a stronger intention to apologize and help the victim. This intention to apologize and help emerged as the strongest, direct predictor of offenders’ willingness to participate. The relevance of Shnabel and Nadler’s needs-based model of reconciliation for VOM is discussed as well as important future research questions that remain.

In deze bijdrage wordt onderzocht wat er vanuit een ‘herstelgericht’ perspectief te zeggen is over de afwikkeling van medische schade. Biedt restorative just culture aanknopingspunten voor een afwikkeling van medische schade die beter aansluit bij de behoeften van betrokkenen?

In recent years, measures have been taken to involve victims in the Netherlands more in the criminal proceedings of their offenses. This development, has led the three Dutch probation organizations (together 3RO) to aim for a more victim focused and restorative oriented approach with their clients. Two reports have been written to aid this victim-oriented approach within probation services. This contribution reflects on these reports and provides additions based on scientific literature. Both reports offer a good overview of existing practices and approaches to work in a more victim focused and restorative way, which can help to increase awareness among probation workers. The additions concern research about the positive outcomes of organizing contact between offenders and victims from unrelated crimes and new research findings concerning the role of feelings of guilt and shame. In addition, consciously talking and acknowledging clients’ victimization is presented as an essential mechanism to create willingness among them to consider the experiences of (their) victims, especially for those who are initially unwilling to do so.

This article is part of a broader discussion about attaining a full-fledged child-friendly (criminal) justice. Attaining that goal is particularly challenging in cases of international parental abduction, due to the involvement of two branches of law. It is examined to what extent the current interaction guarantees a decision in the best interests of the child. More specifically, the implications of the adage le criminel tient le civil en état are scrutinised from a children’s rights perspective.
The central research question reads: “to what extent can the adage le criminal tient le civil and état be upheld when further elaborating the best interests of the child in criminal law, more specifically in the interaction between civil and criminal law?” The research wants to contribute to the debate of the difficult triangular relationship between civil law, criminal law and children's rights law.
In cases of child abduction, the link and interaction between the two procedures goes beyond the traditionally accepted scope of civil damages arising from a criminal offense. Nevertheless, both procedures following a parental abduction are based on the same facts and are inextricably linked, which means that they have to be assessed together, which means that they should be judged together. The question arises as to how the two parallel procedures can be coordinated better, now that it is clear that they may significantly influence each other.
A full-fledged application of the adage means that a decision concerning the return of the child can only be handed down from the moment when the criminal proceeding (concerning the prosecution of the parent) is completed. It is immediately clear that this cannot be in the best interests of the child.
It is argued that the adage must be abandoned or reversed to guarantee article 3 CRC. This statement is substantiated with arguments of both practical (referring to the time course) and fundamental (importance of the child best interets as a first consideration) nature. Thereby counterarguments are anticipated.
---
Dit artikel kadert binnen de bredere discussie inzake het streven naar een kindvriendelijk (straf)rechtssysteem. In zaken van internationale parentale ontvoering, waarbij twee rechtstakken betrokken zijn, is dit bijzonder uitdagend. Er wordt onderzocht in welke mate de huidige interactie tussen beide rechtstakken het belang van het kind waarborgt. Concreet wordt het adagium le criminel tient le civil en état vanuit een kinderrechten-perspectief aan een kritische blik onderworpen.
De centrale onderzoeksvraag luidt: “in welke mate is het adagium le criminel tient le civil and état houdbaar in de verdere uitwerking van het belang van het kind in het strafrecht, meer bepaald in de wisselwerking tussen burgerlijk en strafrecht?” Het artikel wil aan het belang van het kind een duidelijkere positie geven in de moeilijke driehoeksverhouding tussen burgerlijk recht, strafrecht en kinderrechten.
In zaken van kinderontvoering gaat het de toepassing van het adagium verder dan de traditioneel aanvaarde reikwijdte van civielrechtelijke schadevergoedingen die voortvloeien uit een strafbaar feit. Niettemin zijn beide procedures, volgend op een parentale ontvoering, gebaseerd op dezelfde feiten en onlosmakelijk verbonden met elkaar, wat betekent dat ze samen moeten worden beoordeeld. De vraag rijst hoe de twee parallelle procedures beter gecoördineerd kunnen worden, nu duidelijk is dat ze elkaar op een significante manier kunnen beïnvloeden.
Onverkorte toepassing van het adagium betekent dat de burgerlijke beslissing betreffende de terugkeer van het kind pas kan plaatsvinden vanaf het moment dat de strafrechtelijke procedure (betreffende de vervolging van de ouder) is voltooid. Het is meteen duidelijk dat dit niet in het belang van het kind kan zijn.
Er wordt geargumenteerd dat het adagium moet worden verlaten dan wel omgedraaid om artikel 3 IVRK te garanderen. Argumenten van zowel praktische (verwijzend naar de tijdsverloop) als fundamentele (belang van het kind als eerste overweging) aard onderbouwen dit standpunt. Daarbij wordt geanticipeerd op tegenargumenten.