In the ‘participation society’ it is expected that citizens actively contribute to solving societal problems, including health care, immigration and security issues. A somewhat similar responsibilisation culture is visible in prisons, where prisoners are held responsible for their own rehabilitation. This article problematizes the way in which prisoners’ agency is promoted in Dutch prisons, considering prisoners’ constrained agency and the normative expectations that are tied to the approach. This critique is advanced through discussion of the promotion/demotion system that has been used in Dutch prisons since 2014. This system, comparable to the Incentives and Earned Privileges system in England and Wales, espouses both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ behavioural norms. The soft behavioural norms reflect a citizenship ideal that extends beyond compliance with the law. It is argued that these normative expectations tied to agency have a limiting effect on prisoners’ autonomy. This article argues in favour of a shift from the citizenship ideal to an autonomy ideal, which applies the principle of minimum restrictions. Furthermore, access to education, reintegration courses and contact with family should be treated as a right, rather than a privilege, in order to maximise autonomy and minimise the harmful effects of imprisonment.

This article tries to answer the question whether the right to due process, especially for minors receiving a public prosecutor’s penalty decision in the Netherlands is sufficiently guaranteed. To answer this question, formal legislature with respect to this topic, the concept of ‘due process’ as well as the actual legal guarantees for minors, have been explored. In juvenile criminal law, contrary to adult criminal law, the pedagogic aspect plays an important role. The pedagogic point of view is also taken into account. A recent report by the Attorney General of the Dutch Supreme Court showed undoubtedly that after six years of experience, the processes surrounding the instrument of the public prosecutor’s penalty decision are far from being executed flawlessly. Both from a judicial perspective as well as a pedagogic perspective, this is a serious problem. The most important procedural aspects that require substantial improvement are related to determining guilt, attorney accessibility and the presence of parents.

The attitude towards ‘the immigrant’ is changing. Where they used to be seen as a necessity, they are now looked upon with distrust. A consequence of this new attitude is the ‘merging’ of immigration law policy and criminal law. Examples of this in the Netherlands are a law proposal to criminalize illegal stay and a mandatory quorum of illegals that have to be deported each year. In our research we have compared the ‘crimmigration’ discourse in both Arizona and the Netherlands.
Arizona’s law SB1070 has been the main legal focus in the research. The enactment of the law has been cause of many protests. The public’s fear was focused mainly on civil rights violations; the legal discussion was focused on the federalism issue, brought to Courts by the Obama administration. However, with the Supreme Court handing down its landmark decision in Arizona vs. United States, the legal focus will shift towards the civil rights spectrum.
In the most recent elections in the Netherlands, the immigration question seems to have been pushed to the background. However, it remains a vital issue when placed in the context of ‘Euro-skepticism’, which has played a major role , as much of the immigration policy making is done by the supra national European legislator.
We have seen that in the American context the federal government has been a ‘mitigating factor’ in the crimmigration debate to counterbalance draconian immigration policy. We hope that despite recent Euro-skepticism the EU will have a similar mitigating effect.

Juvenile offenders are confronted with criminal records. When they want to start education, work or an internship after detention, they often need a certificate of good conduct. In the Netherlands in recent years it has become more difficult for youth offenders to receive this certificate; criminal records have a detrimental impact, in particular for sex offenders. International juvenile justice standards stress the importance of the right of youngsters to social reintegration and protection of the right to privacy and should lead to an adjustment of this policy of repression.

In this article the significance and impact on Europe and The Netherlands of the European Probation Rules are discussed. As opposed to Gerard de Jonge the author contends that the Rules are also important to and have impact on the Dutch situation. The CEP, The European Organisation for Probation will undertake several activities to assist the member states in implementing the Rules and will contribute to a future revision of the present Rules.

In deze bijdrage is een lans gebroken voor de versterking van de rechtspositie van personen die zich onder toezicht van de reclassering moeten houden aan bijzondere voorwaarden. Daarvoor is aansluiting gezocht bij de wettelijke regeling van de voorwaardelijke modaliteiten, de internationale minimumstandaards voor de tenuitvoerlegging van vrijheidsbeperkende sancties en belangrijke penitentiaire beginselen als het beginsel van minimale beperkingen en het resocialisatiebeginsel. Er is gepleit voor een grotere kenbaarheid van de inhoud die aan bijzondere voorwaarden en de combinaties van voorwaarden kan worden gegeven, een rechtspositieregeling op hoofdlijnen waarin de belangrijkste beslissingen die tegen onder toezicht gestelden kunnen worden genomen met waarborgen zijn omkleed en een aantal materiële rechten zijn uitgewerkt. Ten slotte is ervoor gepleit de klachtenregeling beter toegankelijk te maken en met meer waarborgen te omkleden, waaronder het openstellen van een beroepsmogelijkheid.