In order to improve the effectiveness of offender supervision many studies have been conducted into risk factors for delinquency. Evidence was found that debts and crime are interrelated. However, understanding of potential underlying risk factors in this relationship is limited. Results of an analysis of client files (N=250) show that debts among probation clients are highly prevalent and problems with respect to education, work and mental and physical health seem to be important underlying factors in the relationship between debts and crime. In addition, interviews were conducted with both probation workers (N=33) and clients (N=16) to get insight into the possibilities to adequately support clients with regard to debts in order to stimulate successful resocialization. Results underline the importance of paying attention to possible underlying factors to effectively supervise clients.

In Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) a group of trained and supervised volunteers support a medium to high-risk sex offender in his process of re-entry after detention. Sex offenders participate on a voluntary basis. Circles have a double aim: the prevention of new sexual offences and the rehabilitation of the sex offender. Circles offer social inclusion and support for behavior change, and monitor risk. They are embedded in the professional network of sex offender after care. Through a professional circle coordinator relevant information is circulated between the circle and professional agencies, to enable adequate support and interventions. Effect studies show that COSA contributes to a reduced risk of reoffending. The model was developed in Canada almost 25 years ago and has been picked up by a growing number of countries in Europe, the America’s, Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Variations in the model become apparent and raise questions about the essentials of COSA.

How can technological tools contribute to supervising and reintegrating offenders in society? Globally, technological tools for supervision are broken down into so-called first generation (GPS tracking) and second generation (smartphone and sensor technology). An overview is given of what is globally known about the effectiveness and assumed mechanisms of action of first-generation technical tools. Then it is explored what added value second-generation technical aids can have and to which working mechanisms they could connect. Smartphone and sensor technology have the potential to contribute to the rehabilitation functions of the supervision, inter alia because they offer possibilities for more personalized supervision and for the combination of supervision and treatment. Although initiatives have been started in this regard and research is ongoing, hardly anything is known yet about the effectiveness of these new technological applications. The reliability and safety of IT, as well as ethical and legal aspects also require attention.

The decision to revoke or recall a conditional sanction is barely researched in criminal justice research, despite the interests involved for the offender as well as society. This article reflects on some results from a comparative research project on breach decision-making (COST Action on Offender Supervision in Europe). Using Hawkins’ concept of serial decision-making, the interdependence of early stage and final stage decision makers is highlighted. The significant power exercised by early stage actors raises the issue of the need to ensure credibility of community sanctions and appropriate due process protections, without reducing their discretion so much that they cannot perform their role of supporting the offender to complete the supervisory order successfully.

Little is known about how ex-prisoners’ parole supervision experiences relate to desistance. The aim of this article therefore is to gain insight into the nature of release conditions and parole supervision of ex-prisoners and parolees’ perceptions of their supervision related to the desistance process. A total of 23 Dutch parolees were interviewed in depth at three waves starting in prison up to one year after their release, and the 69 interviews were combined with their parole files containing information about conditions, violations and sanctions. Parole files revealed the practice of highly engaged parole officers, who worked with parolees to strengthen factors known to foster desistance. However, the interviews showed that most parolees found their parole experience predominantly surveillance-oriented and not very helpful for desistance. Parole was experienced as most beneficial when parole officers used their discretionary power to adjust conditions creating ‘space’ for trial-and-error.

Recently the Dutch Government has responded to an advise from the advisory body Raad van State concerning the relationship between the administrative and the penal system of sanctions.
Nowadays administrative sanctions are imposed in the Netherlands for serious offenses, whereas the original intention was to only use these procedures for minor felonies. It is unclear why some offenses are subject to a judicial judgment, while others are dealt with in administrative proceedings. Moreover, it appears that the administrative fines are often significantly higher than fines imposed by a judge. The government feels that harmonisation between the maximum of the administrative and penal fine should be realized. With regard to the choice between administrative and penal law, the government hasn’t found a criterion for deciding which offenses should be subject to a judicial judgment and which can be dealt with in administrative proceedings. The authors argue that the government could have offered more clarity by using the criterion of ‘serious criminal conduct’ as defined in criminal law. Criminal law has to be chosen when there is serious criminal conduct. In other cases it is possible to choose the administrative procedure.

The Dutch Judiciary has only a very limited role in the imposition of sanctions with traffic offenses. With other minor offenses its role is rather limited and has decreased. There has been a striking shift from the imposition of penal sanctions to sanctions based on administrative law in this area. With major offenses (crimes) the role of the judiciary is still significant and has not diminished over the last 20 years. This despite policy efforts to boost out of court sanctioning.
The Judiciary is a fundamental pillar of the rule of law. It offers legal protection, by judging and, if necessary, penalizing violations of norms in a fair trial. In this way not only justice is done with individual cases. Case law has wider implications: confirmation and development of norms and thus general prevention. To fulfil this aim a certain volume of cases and openness of the judgment process is necessary.

In the Netherlands, the number of criminal record screenings performed each year skyrocketed to more than one million. Yet, empirical evidence on its effects has been largely absent. In this article the author addresses parts of the findings of her PhD research, which aimed to fill this gap, by providing a subjective perspective of how having a criminal record impacts the process of re-entry into society, particularly into the labor market, for young adults. It is based on the lived experiences of 31 young adults having a criminal record who were followed during their process of reintegration into the labor market. The vivid, real-life stories of young adults’ strategies of dealing with the stigma of a criminal record, and how this subsequently influences their position in the labor market, highlight the counterproductive effects of increasingly widespread criminal record screening. They provide evidence that many young adults adopt self-exclusion as a strategy for avoiding rejection and exclusion.

The new Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 has generated a lot of criticism in The Netherlands. Although the act was adopted in parliament in July 2017, the implementation will take place in May 2018. Beforehand an advisory referendum will give the public the opportunity to express their opinion on the new act: the modernisation of the investigatory powers of the services and the strengthening of the necessary safeguards and oversight mechanisms. Both have met with their share of criticism. In this paper the focus is on the enhanced oversight mechanism. It is argued that although different choices could have been made regarding the organisation of oversight, the new system fulfills the requirements set by the European Court of Human Rights. The real question is whether the new act provides for effective and strong oversight in practice to ensure a proper balance between national security and privacy protection in this digital era. The opportunities and challenges are explored.

Last year, Dutch parliament approved the proposal for a new Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wiv 2017). This law will replace the current Intelligence and Security Services Act 2002 (Wiv 2002). The Wiv 2017 should be considered feasible with effect from 1 May 2018. Before that time however, an advisory referendum on the new law will be held on 21 March. This article first discusses the nature of the law and the need for innovation. Subsequently, a comparison of both laws takes place in general terms, with regard to the powers of the intelligence and security services, the safeguards, the supervision, the complaint handling and the international cooperation between intelligence and security services. It is argued that the extension of the powers of the services in the Wiv 2017 is only limited in scope, while the safeguards have been considerably strengthened. The introduction of a binding judgment in complaint handling also contributes to a better and more effective legal protection for citizens.

More than forty organizations in security, healthcare and social services work together in the ‘Top600 Project’, aimed at those committing ‘high-impact crimes’. The goal is to improve safety in and around Amsterdam by achieving a permanent change in the behavior of these perpetrators. This includes both a reduction in recidivism of high-impact crimes and an increase in their self-reliance in order to decrease their reliance on crime. To achieve this, special case managers strive to get a clear perspective on the (often complex) lives of these Top600 persons. These managers (‘regisseurs’) can connect to all the organizations concerned and ensure that their efforts are coordinated, aligned and mutually strengthening. The project includes preventing the Top600 persons’ (younger) brothers and sisters from following their siblings on a path of crime. It works through a collective focus and a tailor-made approach for each person, by exercising control on three levels (administrative, civil, and case level), by central monitoring of the results and - from there - by resolving structural flaws in the system.

A legal document appointing one or more people to help a person make decisions or to make decisions on the person’s behalf is a power of attorney (levenstestament). It is meant to be used in situations when illness prevents a person to make decisions that need to be made. In the levenstestament certain trusted people have been given the authority to manage money affairs, property and medical decisions on behalf of the ill person. The document is registered. The author argues that mental incapacity can also be temporarily or partially.

Health care fraud and abuse has long been ignored or downplayed in the Netherlands. Increased media attention has put the issue more on the agenda. Health care fraud can erode the willingness to pay the compulsory contributions for health care among the population. Exact figures on health care fraud are still unavailable, although examples of fraudulent behavior are manifold. The risk of health care fraud is high due to the complexity and lack of transparency of the reimbursement system, the autonomy of the health care professional, the lack of adequate control, governance and attention for compliance in health care. What is needed to combat fraud in health care is a ‘zero tolerance’ policy. For this more attention to compliance and a change in the culture that ignores and condones fraud in health care are necessary.

The central thesis of this article is that the structure of the present financial system, its culture, and its collective practices and policies are fundamentally criminal and criminogenic. The harms emanating from this financial system are exponentially greater than those emanating from the disadvantaged environments that generate a disproportionate percentage of conventional crime. Accordingly, on various levels, there is much at stake in more fully and directly recognizing and identifying many core policies and practices of the financial system for what they are: crimes on a very large scale.

Food fraud has recently been recognized as a blind spot among regulators. In Europe, few organizations have experience with large cases of food fraud; also scientific knowledge into this type of crime is limited. This article aims to contribute experience to this gap. The NVWA-IOD is a specialist crime unit in the Netherlands, carrying out criminal investigations into, among other things, food fraud. This article gives insight into numbers of cases dealt with by the NVWA-IOD in the past fifteen years, for different types of food fraud. Nine criminal cases, concentrating on suspects within trade and industry, are analyzed in more detail from a basic criminological perspective. There is looked into, among other things, the motive, the opportunity and the product. The cases discussed relate to products such as meat, eggs, fish and dairy products. The main motive for committing food fraud is making money; the gain makes fraudulent activities attractive and financially beneficial. Opportunities refer mainly to ambiguous laws and regulations and little supervision. Also, evasive behavior was found. To combat food crime, specialist knowledge of tempting opportunities is essential.

Food fraud is as old as mankind but has advanced in the last decades. Fraud regarding the gross composition of food has progressed in the direction of the addition of unconventional adulterants. Furthermore, consumers are more and more interested in how and where their foods are produced and pay price premiums for organic foods, fair trade, animal welfare considering, and sustainable food products. Since these products are very similar to their conventional counterparts in terms of composition, they provide an additional challenge. The knowledge regarding occurrence, type of meat fraud, causes and damage caused to the sector is limited. There is a need for extensive identification of the vulnerabilities and criminogenic factors. These insights offer leads for detection and prevention. The article deals with a first step into the inventory of these vulnerabilities and factors affecting meat fraud, by assessing fraud risks related to products, companies and the meat supply chain.

This article seeks to aid understanding of the ways in which different policy purposes, approaches and legal options can be combined in the design of better legislation, using Australia’s recently passed Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013. It provides a guide to key elements of the new legislation, as an example of legislative development taking place over a long period, informed by different trends. In particular, it is one of the first national laws to seek to integrate divergent approaches to the ‘anti-retaliation’ model of whistleblower protection, including its place in the employment law system, it sets new standards for the role of ‘public whistleblowing’ in such a regime, and provides new responses on basic questions of coverage, including which individuals are able to gain the benefit of the legislation. This provides lessons as to how different legal approaches might be better integrated, in pursuit of a clearer understanding of the interface between whistleblowing and other integrity reforms.

The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice intends to change legislation enabling long-term community supervision. Since it initially focused on sex offenders, the main focus of this article is on effectiveness of supervision programs and legislation for this group. Supervision programs that combine elements of control and treatment, guidance or social support are found to be the most effective in reducing reoffending. In addition, possible underlying mechanisms of effective supervision, such as social support, electronic supervision and treatment, are elaborated upon. Dutch initiatives are partially shaped by these elements, although up to this date their effects on reoffending have not yet been determined. The effects of legislation that enables supervision are more differentiated than expected, and their practical applicability is found to be crucial. In conclusion, aspects concerning (dynamic) risk assessment, balancing community and offender interests, and tailoring supervision to subgroups are discussed. Study results could be of use to further shape and refine upcoming legislation on long-term supervision.

Policies within forensic psychiatry can be characterized by the on-going search for balance between the interests of stakeholders. These interests vary in a lot of cases. The interest of society, the patient and the professional differs within a complex framework of political, ethical and juridical guidelines and scientific evidence. These differences are illustrated from a management’s point of view by describing the treatment issues in regard to forensic psychiatric inpatients with substance abuse disorders. Treatment policies on drug use during treatment balance between treatment guidelines and restrictive measures. These restrictions have to be adjusted to the necessary treatment programmes for developing new pro social lifestyles. The treatment policy on relapse and leave should balance between patient needs and the needs of society. The result of this interesting but also challenging and complex quest depends on the sensitivity of stakeholders for the interests of the others.

Criminal justice is oriented at retrospective responsibility: examining whether the defendant is guilty and imposing a punishment that fits the crime. In this article it is argued that prospective responsibility needs more attention: taking responsibility. We have to remind the offender of his obligations: pay his debt, repair the harm done, work to change his behaviour and enhancing his situation. We should also take account of the interests and needs of the persons concerned. It is also argued that stimulating active responsibility should take place within the logics of ‘doing justice’. Criminal justice cannot respond to the imperatives of care, well-being and problem-solving.