Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) is a method in which volunteers support and monitor a convicted sex offender during his or her re-entry into society in order to prevent new sex offences. COSA was developed in Canada in 1994 as a grass roots approach to an acute crisis in a small town near Toronto, and since then has spread throughout Canada. In 2002, the COSA model was introduced and further developed in England, and from there the approach found its way to the Netherlands, where circle projects are provided by the Dutch Probation Organization since 2010. Until now, more than one hundred sex offenders (‘core members’ in a circle) have participated in a circle in the Netherlands. Although the COSA model predates the Good Lives Model, it’s basic principles align very well to the Good Lives Model. In COSA, a group of three to five volunteers form a surrogate social network, that offers social inclusion, practical and moral support in all kinds of daily challenges the core member faces, and that monitors risk and risk behavior. The volunteers are supervised by a professional circle-coordinator and supported by professionals who are involved in the core members’ after care arrangements. The COSA intervention model describes a number of conditions and strategies that support its effectiveness. Canadian, American and English case-control studies into the effectiveness of COSA shows a substantial reduction of offending behavior in core members compared to controls. Since the international proliferation of the COSA model is ever increasing, protecting the program integrity is a growing concern, and stresses the need for international cooperation between COSA providers.

De afgelopen jaren is de aandacht voor de rol en de positie van de raad van commissarissen (RvC) van een doelvennootschap bij een overname toegenomen. Het komt in de praktijk regelmatig voor dat de RvC (mede) uit zijn midden een speciale overnamecommissie of stuurgroep vormt die specifiek belast is met een juiste afwikkeling van het overnameproces. In dit artikel gaan de auteurs in op de rol en vormgeving van deze speciale overnamecommissie.

Afgelopen jaar was er veel aandacht voor de nieuwe Corporate Governance Code. De Code kent veel bepalingen die het handelen van bestuurders en commissarissen normeren. Dit artikel behandelt de vraag of bestuurders en commissarissen op dit moment vaak aansprakelijk worden gesteld vanwege schending van de Corporate Governance Code, en of zij in dat geval in rechte wat te vrezen hebben.

In onze diverse maatschappij bestaat veel aandacht voor het tegengaan van discriminatie, bijvoorbeeld in het proces van werving en selectie. In deze bijdrage onderzoekt de auteur aan de hand van rechtspraak en oordelen van het College voor de Rechten van de Mens welke rol discriminatie een rol speelt bij de beëindigingen van arbeidsovereenkomsten. Op grond van de onderzochte zaken wordt geconcludeerd dat een beroep op de gronden geslacht of chronische ziekte en handicap het vaakst aan de rechter of het College worden voorgelegd, waarbij het bij discriminatie op grond van geslacht meestal gaat om discriminatie wegens zwangerschap.

This article analyses whether the local youth worker can operate on the intersection of social welfare and signalling of extremism. Although it is a rare phenomenon, there is a clear message from the government to watch out for the first signs of deviant behavior and unacceptable behavior. However, shouldn’t we ask ourselves whether youth workers are adequately equipped at local level to signal threat? The qualitative results show that in daily practice there is a lack of clear standards which make terminology for social professionals not easily distinguished. In addition their opinion depends largely on their own intuition regarding the issues. This can create side effects which form a risk that the local terrorism policy does not have the intended effect.

The authors reflect on ‘Handelen naar waarheid’ (Acting on truth), an assessment of the state of criminal investigations in The Netherlands, which appeared in May 2016. This report, assigned by the police and public prosecution service and written by four inside experts, caused substantial turmoil in the police organization and beyond. The report addresses six domains: professionalism, attitude and behavior, direction and leadership, capacity for change, organizational structure and business management. The critical and transparent self-reflection by the police received praise from policymakers, journalists and academic observers. It also met with recognition and appreciation in the law enforcement community, in particular among investigators and prosecutors. In the wake of the report, a reform program was organized to modernize both the police and the prosecution service in order to increase the quality and effectiveness of their work. Such reform is deemed necessary because crime problems have become ever more complex and citizens increasingly organize their own (counter-)investigations. The authors conclude that in spite of many recent initiatives, truly innovative practices remain scarce. Also, the crucial ambitions to increase the educational level of investigators and the organizational culture are still far from realized.

This article focuses on the challenges facing Community Oriented Policing (COP) in an increasingly complex society. The authors describe how the Dutch police adresses this context through a new police organisation on a national basis, specified job protocols, intelligence led policing and higher educated specialists. Seeking for alternatives the authors argue that COP should be based on a problem centered approach which profits from the insights of local policemen and operational specialists. Adressing ambiguous problems will fail when only applying system logic. Instead, moral involvement and sensemaking are indispensable.

Recently the Dutch parliament passed a law that provides the subsidy for religious and humanist education in state schools. The law on primary education gives to the parents the right to ask for it. Religious education in state schools exists in the Netherlands since the beginning of the 19th century, optional and taught by representatives of the church. So it is appropriate for the state school which wish to be a school for everyone. And public funding is appropriate in the Dutch education system.

In 2009 the Dutch temporary restraining order Act came into being. The order is a much used instrument in the fight against domestic violence. However, it’s effectivity has yet to be proven beyond doubt. There are signs the order can be effective, but it is unknown what influences this effect: which choices in its implementation, which characteristics of violence and those involved, which characteristics of the care that is provided.
This article claims that the temporary restraining order can be more effective if we collect more data on what it is that makes it effective, and use this data to mirror the order against other instruments that are available in the fight against domestic violence. In that way, we can choose the instrument that best suits the situation, instead of picking the temporary restraining order simply because it is most readily available. This means the following is necessary: 1) more knowledge about the types of situations in which the order can be most effective; 2) more knowledge about the effects of choices that are being made in the implementation of the instrument; 3) an overview of all available instruments for intervening in situations of serious and immediate threat of domestic violence and the effects that can be reached with those instruments; and 4) a better use of available knowledge about the effects of care and assistance to victims and perpetrators of domestic violence to improve the trajectories that accompany temporary restraining orders. This will enable a more balanced choice between these orders and other interventions and will improve the effects of the orders and the care and assistance that accompanies them.

Since 2004 all students in Flemish universities and university colleges have the right to file an internal appeal within their institution against a negative study progress decision. This contribution gives an overview on what the current legal framework of such an internal appeals procedure looks like and aims to discuss some focal points (the composition of the committee, the hearing of a student, formal aspects when filing the appeal, …) when developing such a procedure.

The rationale behind refugee law is that people who fear persecution in their home country can seek and find a safe haven in another country. The situation in Eritrea with its national service and wide-spread human rights violations is reason why many Eritreans flee their country. A vast number of them want to apply for asylum in European countries. After a risky journey over the African continent where they face risks of kidnappings, trafficking for ransom, and situations of inhuman and degrading treatment, they reach Europe. Some of them continue their journey to the Netherlands. The central question in this article is whether or not their safety and well-being are at stake once they arrive in the Netherlands. Situations of involvement of and intimidation by the Eritrean regime in the Netherlands, diaspora tax that is forcibly collected, involvement of the Orthodox Church and indications of human trafficking have been reported in media and reports, by individuals and organisations. In this article the outcomes of a research on the concerns about the well-being of Eritrean asylum seekers in reception centres among employers of organisations responsible for their safety and well-being are presented and discussed. Data were collected and discussed during four focus group meetings with a total of 33 professionals. The concerns are divided in three groups: 1) Concerns about the capacities and possibilities to integrate in Dutch society, 2) Concerns about religion and rituals, and 3) Concerns about indications of human trafficking. These concerns are further elaborated based on which the conclusion is drawn that more tailored support and assistance is required for successful integration of Eritreans in Dutch society, their empowerment and resilience against threats and challenges in Dutch society.

This article on intergenerational transmission of crime in families is based on a study of seven families of which at least one member held a key position in an organized crime group. The authors retrieved information on at least three generations (preceding and succeeding this key member’s generation) to investigate whether transmissions occurred, and if so, how these might be explained. Throughout the generations the majority of family members indeed have criminal records. However, it seems to be less easy to transfer criminal leadership in organized crime from one generation to the next. Leading a criminal group seems to demand qualities that are not transferred easily. Successful successors appear to be able to establish their own networks within the deviant subcultures from which they stem. This also explains the persistence of criminal behavior: both men and women select their friends and partners from these closed communities and seem to prefer for their social and love relationships those who have already developed substantial criminal track records. Organized crime families in North Brabant took advantage of criminal opportunities that were presented to them over the years. Particularly XTC production, starting in the 1990s, allowed them to step up their criminal activities from the local to the global level. In addition, they may have capitalized on a moral economy with sentiments of subordination present in the province of North Brabant, dating back to the seventeenth century, which resulted in a more reserved attitude towards authorities than in other parts of the Netherlands. Finally, law enforcement agencies have been generally slow to respond to developments in criminal opportunities that benefited these seven families.

Previous research showed that job applicants with a criminal record have lower chances of obtaining employment compared to job applicants with no criminal record. At the same time empirical studies showed that having a job is especially beneficial for ex-delinquents, as employment was found to lower recidivism. The current study uses an experimental design to look into the influence of a criminal record on employment chances. For this purpose, 520 resumes and motivation letters were sent in response to vacancies published on the internet. All were identical except for the stated offence type (no offence, violent offence, property offence, or sexual offence), duration between conviction and application, business sector and ethnicity of the applicant. Results show no effect for type of offence or no offence on employment chances. However, a strong effect is found for ethnicity. Ethnic minorities with no conviction were even found to have lower chances of receiving a positive reaction compared to applicants with a Dutch name and a conviction for a violent offence.

Recently the Dutch probation is faced with changes in the local situation: new forms of cooperation and networks have emerged, due to the transformation of the social domain. The probation officers participate on different levels in these networks. They can no longer simply deliver their ‘products’, but have to ‘do what is necessary. A lot of decisions have to be made on the operational level.
Examples of the changes are given. Recent research on cooperation in the social domain show that ‘cooperation’ is easier sad then done. These changes ask for a new set of competences.

Commissarissen dienen hun taken op onafhankelijke wijze uit te oefenen. In dit artikel staat de vraag centraal hoe beloning in aandelen – zoals voorgesteld in het consultatievoorstel voor de Corporate Governance Code – zich verenigt met die voorgeschreven onafhankelijke taakvervulling.

The phenomenon of victim participation in restorative justice (RJ) has been studied from two main angles: describing victims’ motivations to take part in RJ and studying the benefits that different groups of victims may obtain when participating in RJ. However, methodological limitations of former studies have impeded to offer conclusive answers to the question ‘for whom is RJ’. This article offers insights into these issues, focusing on the descriptive findings of a mixed-method study carried out in the context of victim-offender mediation (in Spain and Belgium) and assessed before the encounter (if any) took place. Findings suggest that, before mediation, victims’ personal characteristics tend to differ. The factor ‘victim-offender relationship’ also appeared as an important variable. Implications of these findings are discussed.

In this article, I report on an ethnographic research project conducted in 2013-2015 in Rotterdam’s neighbourhood Hillesluis on ‘Community Governs’, a community-based program which goal is to solve neighbourhood crime and disorder problems. By making use of the CLEAR model, the article focuses on three factors of effective participation of citizens: ‘Enabled to’, ‘Asked to’, and ‘Responded to’. The results indicate that making residents of a deprived neighbourhood responsible for the governing of safety and security issues is extremely difficult. It also becomes clear that the participants don’t believe that their involvement is making a difference in the neighbourhood. An importantly explanation for this is that the participants are not provided enough information to make the right decisions about which safety problems need to be tackled.

Verslag van de op 4 november 2016 in het Domus Medica te Utrecht gehouden najaarsvergadering van de Vereniging voor Gezondheidsrecht.