Until quite recently, the Netherlands had an outstanding reputation at home and abroad for administrative regulation and supervision (‘toezicht’) of markets and public services. Over the past decade, however, that reputation has been tarnished, both internally and externally, by a series of regulatory failures and scandals across a wide range of policy domains. In this article the author gives us the international perspective.

In this interview with prominent representatives of the British Acas and the Belgian Social Mediators Service important developments in the ADR labour practice are discussed. In particular, the impact of the financial crisis and the ever advancing globalization process on the labour negotiating climate is the centre of attention.

This article reflects on some of the qualities and strengths, as well as some potential weaknesses, of a research methodology used to study ‘hard-to-reach’ groups, such as the undocumented. This approach, known as the PEER (Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation and Research) approach, is introduced in terms of its key elements of trust, anonymity, in-depth data and flexibility. Its suitability for sensitive, or ‘liminal’ research issues, involving groups of vulnerable informants, is explained. The method is based on relations of trust, which are maintained through anonymity in data collection, and extend from social researchers to informants, through the intermediation of trained community-based peer researchers. It is they who interview others in their own social networks; since trust is the key ingredient in making this ethically-informed methodology work well, trust must be invested also in the peer researchers, who form part of the research team.

In de tweede Kaderstellende visie op toezicht uit 2005 is het uitgangspunt ‘minder last, meer effect’, zoals de titel van dat kabinetsstuk luidt. Toezichtslasten moeten worden teruggedrongen en de meerwaarde van toezicht, het effect, moet toenemen. Maar, wat zijn effecten van toezicht? Hoe kunnen toezichtseffecten worden vastgesteld? Waarom is het belangrijk aandacht te schenken aan effecten van toezicht? De Inspectieraad besteedt veel aandacht aan dit onderwerp, hoe kan het dat inspecties en autoriteiten op dat vlak maar langzaam in beweging komen? Gelukkig zijn er ook goede voorbeelden van effectmetingen, ook in de Nederlandse inspectiepraktijk. Dit artikel belicht een aantal van die ‘best practices’ en geeft enkele adviezen en handreikingen.

Book review of Stefano Bertea, The Normative Claim of Law

Professor Schauer covers many topics in this interview. On a general note, the interview covers themes pertaining to his experience in engaging with legal philosophy as a trained lawyer; his views on the present and the future of legal philosophy and how we shall cope with its development; his new book Thinking like a Lawyer; the role of legal philosophers in law and society; and some sincere suggestions to young legal philosophers. It also covers more specific topics, including discussions about his insistence on rule priority; differences between legal principles and rules; his opinion of legal positivism; and the pros and cons of analytical tools like spectrum, continuum and generality.