A fair trial can only be guaranteed if a judge gives as much insight in his line of thinking as possible and if a judge is actively participating in finding the truth in a criminal case. According to statutes and case law a judge has a lot of freedom to show how he feels about certain things during criminal proceedings. A challenge to a judge shall not quickly be admissible. Still, a judge needs to be impartial and willing to review his preliminary decision/opinion.

In the Netherlands, the debate around police profiling has been rather low key – until recently. Now it has turned into a heated discussion with a clear focus on ethnic profiling. This extensive international literature review aims to show that there is more to profiling than just ethnicity. Factors such as behavior and the vehicle someone is driving can be just as important as a person’s looks. The results of this study put profiling in perspective and level the playing field of the debate, in which the side of the organizations using profiling has not gotten enough attention until now.