Dutch local governments increasingly decide to contract private security officers for surveillance and enforcement tasks in the public space. This article presents an analysis of the daily work of these private security officers. Local governments contract these private workers because they are faced with problems of social disorder and crime. Although the police should formally manage the work of these private security workers, in practice this task is hardly realized. These private workers are faced with four problems: their work is boring, they are uncertain about what they are expected to do, don’t know exactly what their formal powers are, and are unsatisfied about their lack of means for self-defence. Although they don’t differ in their work style from their public colleagues, their position as private worker and the flexible job they have, are hard to reconcile with what they are expected to do (like reassuring citizens).

Private security is traditionally a highly fragmented industry with a national focus. However, with the arrival of multinational brands in the market such as Group 4 Securicor and Securitas, we are witnessing a rise of global private security. After providing the latest statistics on the growth of this industry in the Netherlands, the authors give examples of how private security is evolving throughout the world. Issues that are further addressed include the opportunities and challenges (multinational) private security companies present to the Netherlands.

In Denmark fire fighting is a responsibility of the local authorities, but since nearly a century communities have the possibility to outsource these duties to private companies. Falck is the dominant player on this private market. The same goes for other emergency services. The author describes the story of its founder Sophus Falck, the historical roots of Falck and how the company achieved the status of a reliable partner for the authorities. The legal basis for private firms in fire fighting is discussed as well as costs and quality of the services in an international perspective. The author concludes that Falck is a typical Danish phenomenon and the Danish model cannot be copied by other countries without restriction. At the same time the Danish experience learns that market competition may have a positive effect on the cost efficiency of fire fighting.

This is a review of the book (dissertation) Orde in veiligheid. Een dynamisch perspectief (Order in security; a dynamic perspective) from the Dutch criminologist and philosopher Marc Schuilenburg. The reviewer characterises the book as ‘courageous’ because of its multidisciplinary approach of the phenomenon ‘public private partnerships’ (ppp’s) in security, its rupture with solidified thinking and its use of empirical studies to show what really happens in the workplace of ppp’s. The reviewer welcomes the application of concepts of the French philosophers Foucault, Deleuze and Tarde, but feels at the same time that the author could have done more to explain their thinking. Also he disagrees with the author about the role of the state in security governance, which is according to the reviewer much more dominant than suggested in this book.

The period of austerity which most of Europe is now experiencing is for the first time impacting on law and orders services, particularly the police service. This article gives an overview of the debate in England and Wales on the decision of the Coalition government to cut 20% to police spending and police numbers. An important instrument to reach this goal is the private outsourcing of tasks performed in the back office. The author discusses the public views on the performance and reliability of private security companies. Also the high rise of public police expenses are discussed against the background of declining crime levels.

Private administration of justice is an online and offline reality. In this article the reality of online dispute resolution (ODR) is explored, using the example of eBay (60 million conflicts taken on each year). The issue of jurisdiction in online cases is clarified and an analysis is made of the causes of the propagation of ODR. Finally the new phenomenon of online dispute prevention (ODP) is examined. This leads to the conclusion that ODR started as an alternative form of dispute settlement, but more and more becomes a substitute for the public administration of justice.

For a long time the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) was the sole provider of forensic services in the Netherlands. Since the beginning of this century, several other private forensic institutes have been established. These institutes partly deliver the same products and services as the NFI, including for the police and judicial authorities. This article discusses the results from a pilot project in which police and judicial authorities were given additional opportunities for furnishing assignments to private investigation agencies instead of the NFI. A budget of EUR 3.5 million was provided. Many respondents viewed the speed of the investigations and reports by private forensic institutes as a very positive aspect of outsourcing to these institutes. On four out of five aspects (transparency, clarity, bureaucracy and readability), the private institutes scored better than the NFI. The NFI scored better on ‘safety’. Despite the positive experiences with outsourcing, the Minister of Security and Justice decided not to follow up the pilot. Although the police and prosecution are free to use the services of the private institutes, it is unlikely that they’ll do so very often because the investigation costs will be at the expense of their budget. The bill for the services provided by the NFI however is sent to the ministry. Therefore the NFI can continue operating as a monopolist.

In the opening section the author refers to the classical book of Dutch criminologist Willem Bonger on the links between poverty/social injustice and levels of crime. He then introduces his own work on the International Crime Victim Survey (ICVS) since 1989. The ICVS trend data on crime in Western countries during 1989 up to 2010 show a curvilinear movement peaking around 2000. The upward trend seems to track economic growth and to have mainly been caused by increased opportunities of crime. His analytical results concerning car theft and household burglary suggest that the international falls in crime since 2000 are largely caused by improved security. A comparative analysis shows for example that burglary rates have fallen in countries with high levels of home security such as Great Britain and the Netherlands and have continued to rise in low security countries such as Denmark and Switzerland. The author concludes that criminology has evolved both methodologically and theoretically since the publication of Bonger’s book in 1905. Some fundamental principles of the discipline, however, appear to have remained unchanged. Van Dijk’s own work is, just like that of Bonger, policy- oriented. It is driven by the motivation to assist governments in finding better ways to reduce suffering of human beings from crime, either as victims or as offenders.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was created by the Human Rights Council in 2006 as a tool to evaluate human rights standards in all 192 countries of the United Nations. It should be distinguished from the reviews by treaty-based bodies. These bodies are composed of independent experts and monitor the implementation of the human rights treaties. The UPR, on the other hand, is a peer review among countries on the whole spectrum of human rights. The Netherlands was evaluated for the second time in 2012. This article describes the background and procedure of the UPR. It then focuses more specific on the session of the Netherlands, by giving an impression of topics that were raised, as well as some reflections on both the session and the UPR itself.

This article presents an overview of various measures, initiatives and developments regarding to the fight against discrimination in the Netherlands since 1971. It also gives a short overview of relevant international treaties on discrimination and the obligations for the parties involved. The political and societal attention for combating discrimination has decreased in recent years. There is a tendency to deny that discrimination is a real problem. Also the tone of voice in the public debate on integration of ethnic minorities has hardened. Nowadays, antidiscrimination policies and initiatives take place at the local level and state involvement is limited to facilitating support. The registration of discrimination complaints continues to be a problem and minor progress has been made in the last twenty years.

The UPR is an increasingly important instrument for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to advocate for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Netherlands. In this article, the way that NGOs have used the UPR in relation to the Netherlands will be discussed. This will be done primarily from the perspective of Amnesty International. The article first outlines how NGOs can contribute to the UPR process. Subsequently, it discusses the substantive input provided by Amnesty International for the review of the Netherlands. Finally, the potential impact of this intervention on the promotion and protection of human rights on the ground in the Netherlands will be considered. This impact will depend, inter alia, on the de-politicization of the UPR, the credibility of the process, the follow-up of recommendations made during the review and, prominently, the political will of the incoming government.

During childhood, a child is entitled to receive special care and assistance. The child’s best interest should be a primary objective. The Dutch government has an obligation to guarantee the children rights. But do the closed youth care accommodations meet the requirements as stated in the International Child Rights Convention, as far as deprivation of liberty and treatment under coercion are concerned? The study concluded that some closed youth care institutions do not meet the requirements as stated in the above mentioned Convention. There is often no possibility of free expression, physical complaints may not be taken seriously, an adequate standard of living is not always provided and the level of education is often too low. Most of the minors indicate that they are bored during their stay in the accommodations. On this basis, limiting the fundamental rights of these youngsters is currently surrounded with inadequate guarantees.