Dit artikel is een onderdeel van het themanummer naar aanleiding van de Vlaams-Nederlandse bijeenkomst over het omgevingsrecht met de titel: ‘Omgevingsrecht in de Lage Landen: Toren van Babel of Tuin der Lusten?’
De auteur gaat in op het Nederlandse omgevingsplan zoals dit in de Omgevingswet is opgenomen.

This paper provides first of all the introduction to this special issue on ‘Legal constraints on the indeterminate control of “dangerous” sex offenders in the community: A European comparative and human rights perspective’. The issue is the outcome of a study that aims at finding the way legal control can not only be an instrument but also be a controller of social control. It is explained what social control is and how the concept of moral panic plays a part in the fact that sex offenders seem to be the folk devils of our time and subsequently pre-eminently the target group of social control at its strongest. Further elaboration of the methodology reveals why focussing on post-sentence (indeterminate) supervision is relevant, as there are hardly any legal constraints in place in comparison with measures of preventive detention. Therefore, a comparative approach within Europe is taken on the basis of country reports from England and Wales, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain. In the second part of the paper, the comparative analysis is presented. Similar shifts in attitudes towards sex offenders have led to legislation concerning frameworks of supervision in all countries but in different ways. Legal constraints on these frameworks are searched for in legal (sentencing) theory, the principles of proportionality and least intrusive means, and human rights, mainly as provided in the European Convention on Human Rights to which all the studied countries are subject. Finally, it is discussed what legal constraints on the control of sex offenders in the community are (to be) in place in European jurisdictions, based on the analysis of commonalities and differences found in the comparison.

This article presents an overview of the legal regime provided in the Spanish system of criminal sanctions regarding the control of dangerous sex offenders in the community. It focuses on the introduction, in 2010, of a post-prison safety measure named supervised release. We describe the context of its introduction in the Spanish Criminal Code, considering the influence of societal upheaval concerning dangerous sex offenders in its development, and also the historical and theoretical features of the Spanish system of criminal sanctions. We also analyse the legal framework of supervised release, the existing case law about it and how the legal doctrine has until now assessed this measure. After this analysis, the main aim of this article consists in evaluating the effectiveness and the proportionality of the measure, according to the principle of minimal constraints and the rehabilitative function of the criminal sanctions in Spanish law, stated in Article 25.2 of the Spanish Constitution.

After release from prison or a custodial preventive institution, offenders may come under supervision in Germany, which means that their conduct is controlled for a period of up to five years or even for life by a judicial supervising authority. Supervision is terminated if it can be expected that even in the absence of further supervision the released person will not commit any further offences. From the theoretical point of view, supervision is not considered a form of punishment in Germany, but a preventive measure that is guided by the principle of proportionality. After a presentation of the German twin track system of criminal sanctions and a glimpse at sentencing theory, the capacity of the principle of proportionality to guide and control judicial decisions in the field of preventive sanctions is discussed. The human rights perspective plays only a minor role in the context of supervision in Germany.

In the Netherlands, the legal possibilities for post-custodial supervision have been extended considerably in recent years. A currently passed law aims to further increase these possibilities specifically for dangerous (sex) offenders. This law consists of three separate parts that may all result in life-long supervision. In the first two parts, the supervision is embedded in the conditional release after either a prison sentence or the safety measure ‘ter beschikking stelling’ (TBS). This paper focuses on the third part of the law, which introduces an independent supervisory safety measure as a preventive continuation of both a prison sentence and the TBS measure. Inevitably, this new independent sanction raises questions about legitimacy and necessity, on which this paper reflects from a human rights perspective. Against the background of the existing Dutch penal law system, the content of the law is thoroughly assessed in view of the legal framework of the Council of Europe and the legal principles of proportionality and less restrictive means. In the end, we conclude that the supervisory safety measure is not legitimate nor necessary (yet). Apart from the current lack of (empirical evidence of) necessity, we state that there is a real possibility of an infringement of Article 5(4) ECHR and Article 7 ECHR, a lack of legitimising supervision ‘gaps’ in the existing penal law system, and finally a lack of clear legal criteria. Regardless of the potential severity of violent (sex) offenses, to simply justify this supervisory safety measure on the basis of ‘better safe than sorry’ is not enough.

Overzicht hoofdlijnen jurisprudentie planschade.

Particulieren kunnen geen beroep doen op voorzorgs- en preventiebeginsel om toepassing van een nationale regeling uit te sluiten.

IPR-vragen omtrent huwelijksvermogens- en partnerschapsvermogensrecht worden vanaf 29 januari 2019 beantwoord aan de hand van de regels uit twee nieuwe Europese verordeningen. Dit artikel beoogt een overzicht te geven van de hoofdlijnen van deze verordeningen. De nadruk ligt daarbij op het toepassingsgebied van beide verordeningen (welke onderwerpen regelen de verordeningen zoal?) en met name de regels van toepasselijk recht. Welke mogelijkheden zijn er tot het uitbrengen van een rechtskeuze en welk recht beheerst het huwelijksvermogens- of partnerschapsvermogensregime als partijen geen rechtskeuze hebben uitgebracht? Beide verordeningen worden besproken vanuit hun belang voor de notariële praktijk. In dat kader komen ook het overgangsrecht en het geldingsbereik van artikel 1:88 BW in grensoverschrijdende gevallen uitdrukkelijk aan de orde.

Although group workers in juvenile correctional facilities (JCFs) are restricted in their actions by many rules and regulations, they still have the opportunity for tailor-made actions. Based on Lipsky’s (2010) theory of ‘street-level bureaucracy’ this article explains what this discretion means for group workers in JCFs and how they deal with it. Based on 24 interviews with group workers, this article outlines how they exercise discretion in a context where group dynamics and dealing with emotions affect their actions to an important degree. In addition, this article describes how group workers deal with dilemmas they encounter.

This article uses the rise of referendum democracy to highlight the tenacity of modern nationalism in Western Europe. The proliferation of direct democracy around the world raises important questions about the health of representative democracy. The paper offers a theoretical re-evaluation of the role of the referendum, using the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence to challenge some of the traditional democratic criticisms of popular democracy. The final part of the paper addresses the specific application of referendums in the context of sub-state nationalism, addressing what might be called `the demos question'. This question was addressed by the Supreme Court in Canada in the Quebec Secession Reference but has also been brought to the fore by the Scottish reference and the unresolved issue of self-determination in Catalonia.

Digitale gegevensuitwisseling tussen toezicht- en opsporingsinstanties betekent een nieuwe manier van werken. Voor welke vragen staat de uitvoeringspraktijk en is die er klaar voor? En hoe staat het met de wetgeving? In dit artikel staat de praktijk bij de totstandkoming van Inspectieview Milieu centraal. Dit traject is een voorbeeld van hoe het elders gaat of zou kunnen gaan. Maar er is meer nodig… In eerste instantie een brede verkenning naar de manier waarop toezicht en opsporing met elkaar samenwerken en op welke wijze ICT daarbij kan ondersteunen. Een belangrijke vervolgvraag is wat daar wettelijk nog voor nodig is. De uitvoeringspraktijk hoeft daar niet op te wachten. Er kan al gestart worden met een gezamenlijke ‘Gedragscode samenwerking en informatie-uitwisseling toezicht en opsporing’ zodat niemand meer het wiel hoeft uit te vinden.

A cassation court traditionally has two tasks: a unifying task and a corrective task. The unifying task consists of verifying the internal legality of a lower court’s decision (the correct application and interpretation of the law by the lower courts). The corrective task refers to verifying the external legality of the lower court’s decision. The cassation court must ensure that the decisions of the courts concerned are in conformity with the requirements of proper administration of justice. This article focuses on the following question: is it necessary that the Belgian Council of State, acting in the capacity of a cassation court, performs both traditional tasks (corrective and unifying)? This is by no means self-evident, given the specific judicial structure in which the Belgian Council of State operates.

This article scrutinizes the forces that are at play during the work of police officers in the Netherlands in order to unravel how they shape and give meaning to police officers’ workaday practice. By doing so, we contribute to scholarly debates in the fields of criminology and public administration and give a new impulse to the Dutch debate on policy culture. Using insights from the literatures on police culture, policing, police morality and police styles as theoretical background, an empirical study was conducted using fifteen focus groups with a total of 83 police officers working at street-level as main method of data collection. After analyzing the transcripts through an iterative coding process, four main forces that influence police officers’ workaday practice emerged from the data, partly confirming and partly expanding existing research: 1) environment and public; 2) group culture; 3) organization and its supervisors; and 4) personal factors. However, by acquiring a deeper understanding of these forces in relation to each other and to their workaday practice, police officers’ ‘moral resilience’ will increase: it will help them to act well-considered, strengthening their ability to explain the logic of their actions.

This article provides a brief overview of Delaware’s two business courts – the Court of Chancery and the Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division – as well as its business-friendly Rapid Arbitration Act.

Deze bijdrage bespreekt de aard en reikwijdte van het internationaal gezondheidsrecht, een tak van het internationaal publiekrecht die nauw verweven is met het nationale gezondheidsrecht. De standaarden van de Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie komen aan bod, evenals de relevante mensenrechtenbepalingen. De conclusie luidt dat het internationaal gezondheidsrecht een dynamisch veld is dat voor grote uitdagingen staat, waaronder het ontwikkelen van nieuwe standaarden in antwoord op de mondiale stijging van chronische ziektes en het ter verantwoording roepen van invloedrijke niet-statelijke actoren zoals de farmaceutische industrie en de tabaksindustrie.

De 49e jaarvergadering van de Vereniging voor Gezondheidsrecht vond april 2016 plaats. Tijdens het inhoudelijke gedeelte lichtten prof. dr. M.J.M.H. Lombarts, mr. A.C. de Die, drs. H.C. van Eyck van Heslinga MMC en mr. A. Hammerstein hun bijdrage aan het preadvies ‘Functioneren en disfunctioneren’ toe. Aan de orde kwam het (dis)functioneren van zorgprofessionals en bestuurders en het belang van de professionele toezichthouder binnen zorginstellingen. Coreferaten over het voorkómen van disfunctioneren, onder verwijzing naar de mogelijkheid tot het instellen van commissies voor advies en begeleiding (zoals door de NVvH) en vanuit organisatiekundige optiek, werden gehouden door respectievelijk prof. dr. J.H. van Bockel en dr. H.K.J.M. de Sonnaville. Tijdens de goedbezochte vergadering werd daarmee een brede blik op het onderwerp geboden.

This article examines the main assumptions and theoretical underpinnings of case study method in legal studies. It considers the importance of research design, including the crucial roles of the academic literature review, the research question and the use of rival theories to develop hypotheses and the practice of identifying the observable implications of those hypotheses. It considers the selection of data sources and modes of analysis to allow for valid analytical inferences to be drawn in respect of them. In doing so it considers, in brief, the importance of case study selection and variations such as single or multi case approaches. Finally it provides thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses associated with undertaking socio-legal and comparative legal research via a case study method, addressing frequent stumbling blocks encountered by legal researchers, as well as ways to militate them. It is written with those new to the method in mind.

In deze bijdrage wordt naar aanleiding van de actuele discussie en de hierbij door de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Kindergeneeskunde (NVK) en de Minister van VWS ingenomen standpunten, de mogelijkheid tot het schrappen van leeftijdsgrenzen in de Wet toetsing levensbeëindiging op verzoek en hulp bij zelfdoding (Wtl) besproken en becommentarieerd. Dit artikel spitst zich hierbij toe op de juridische positie van kinderen die jonger dan twaalf én wilsbekwaam zijn. Ingegaan wordt op voor- en nadelen van het schrappen van de leeftijdsgrenzen en de juridische mogelijkheden en moeilijkheden die zich bij een eventuele wijziging van de Wtl zullen voordoen.