Central to this contribution is the question whether Dworkin’s theory of constructive interpretation as a method of applying law for the judge, can be used as a method of legal-dogmatic research. Constructive interpretation is a method of legal interpretation that aims to find a normative unity in the diversity of rules that characterize a legal system. In order to find an answer to this question, the key elements of Dworkin’s theory are explained and applied to the author’s PhD research. Methodological difficulties that could give rise to problems when applying Dworkin’s theory, are investigated. In the end, the author concludes that since the judge and the scholar use quite the same methods when interpreting law, the principles of constructivism should fit legal research well, even though some aspects of Dworkin’s theory are difficult to operationalize in practice. As a leading notion however, constructivism constitutes a workable method of legal research.

The Dutch prosecutor’s office has set itself the goal of contributing to a safer and just society. This article investigates how a more proactive and innovative approach to the sanctioning of crimes can help towards realizing this goal. The authors take a close look at which types of sanctions could be ‘employed’ for this purpose, and when and how they ought to be executed, in the light of moral retributive and utilitarian theories on punishment. Specifically, the article considers community-sentencing punishments – punishments that are executed locally and in a way that is connected to context (perpetrator, neighbourhood) within which the crime was committed. The authors conclude that a visible connection between the crime and the punishment is vital to achieve the goals set out by the prosecutor’s office. However, at the same time various features of the execution of the punishment need to be considered in order to reach the right effect. This article does not purport to give a single answer these issues, but aspires to indicate where there is unexplored potential in the way community sentences are executed, and hopes to give a framework of what needs to be considered in order to do so effectively.

While most restorative justice research would suggest that victims and offenders are often satisfied with their experiences, the number of referrals to these type of programs remain low. This lack of accessibility was the topic of the European Forum for Restorative Justice project, ‘Accessibility and Initiation of Restorative Justice’. This article reports on the project’s findings with regard to several factors which limit greater accessibility, as supported by the attitudes of referral bodies and restorative justice practitioners examined in the frame of this project. The results of previous research and the current empirical research illustrate how accessibility is hindered by (1) lacking or insufficient restorative justice legislation, (2) exclusion criteria regarding which cases may be suitable to restorative justice procedures, (3) a lack of knowledge among legal actors, restorative justice practitioners and the general public about restorative justice and its benefits, (4) the persistence of a retributive legal culture within criminal justice and (5) a need for greater cooperation among those who are involved whether as referral bodies or mediators or facilitators. Qualitative data is presented to provide a better understanding of these elements, in addition to potential solutions that were reported by the respondents. Furthermore, the authors take a closer look at the current situation in the Netherlands, including an overview of the trainings that were developed within the Accessibility project. The results of these trainings reinforce the factors that were identified by previous research and the current empirical research, and aimed to look for solutions to the main barriers to greater accessibility.

This article considers the effect of austerity-induced public spending cuts on the English civil justice system. In doing so it initially examines two fundamental changes engendered by the effect austerity has had on civil court fees and legal aid: first, a challenge to the traditional commitment in English procedure to adversarial process, and a concomitant increase in inquisitorial or investigative processes; and secondly, the growth in use of unqualified individuals to act as advocates in court for individual litigants who are unable to afford legal representation. It then turns to consider what, if any, effect austerity has had on simplified processes available in English civil procedure.

Access to justice for those who cannot afford it remains a serious and intractable problem. Financial shortfalls and austerity cuts have caused much of the free legal advice sector to contract. Recent gains in the economy have not been distributed to the poorest in society, many of whom view lawyers as expensive and inaccessible. The result has been a widening of the justice gap – one which can only be filled if new models based on digitalization and internet based technologies fulfill their potential and allow both law firms and major brands to provide more affordable services. A broader market based response to the coming shortfall in legal assistance is possible if unbundling can become standard among legal practitioners. Technology will enable citizens to be supported with targeted advice and information should they need it. It will also bring solicitor managed services to an increasingly wide segment of the public.

This contribution addresses the limits placed on access to justice in the context of social services, with a particular, but not exclusive, focus on the UK, across five central platforms: legal representation, the financial barriers, the structure of the programme, the attitude of the bureaucracy, and the personal attributes of the client. The contribution finds that there exist, for decades, problematic elements that constitute barriers to justice in this area: the means-tested element in the programmes and the bureaucracy’s double role as provider of services and detector of fraud. But to them, in recent years, significant barriers were added: recent cuts in legal aid and the imposition of tribunal fees in the UK are retrograde steps, reverting 40 years of impressive achievements in the field.

In recent years, there has been much discussion on the legal aid cuts and reforms in England and Wales, and the possible consequences this would have on access to justice for vulnerable groups in society, including immigrants and asylum seekers. This contribution focuses on one element of the English legal aid system: merits testing by legal aid providers in asylum cases. It explores whether and, if so, how this aspect may affect the access to justice for asylum seekers lacking the financial means to pay privately for legal assistance and representation. The findings indicate that a merits test which makes access to legal aid on appeal conditional upon a case having at least 50% prospect of success and makes legal aid providers responsible for conducting this assessment may compromise asylum seekers’ ability to achieve justice both within and outside the existing body of law.

Recent sociological research and socio-political debates about socioeconomic inequality and social divisions urge legal scholars, criminologists, policy makers and practitioners to have a renewed discussion about the role of socioeconomic status of suspects and offenders in judicial decisions. If social divisions in Dutch society are deepening, we need to look anew at the possibility that injustices of the social structure affect legal rights and decisions about prosecution, sentencing and probation. This article intends to offer various starting points for debate and research.

Half of Dutch police has no confidence in the criminal justice system. Police officers complain that it is impossible to tackle crime and disorder, because as they believe, prosecutors and judges are often letting them down. This article discusses an empirical study on police attitudes towards criminal law in The Netherlands. It is found that many police officers don’t know much about the legal proceedings that follow police work. A description is presented of how police officers think about legal questions: conviction, sentencing and detention on remand. It is concluded that there is a tension between on the one hand, the operation goals of order following a moral duty to restore street justice, and the protection of legal rights of individual citizens on the other. Subsequent recommendations have to do with the working relationship between police and the judiciary.

This article aims to explore the driving factors behind the process of crimmigration, the merger of crime control and migration control. By analysing the legal and policy framework governing the so-called ‘Mobile Security Monitor’ – the discretionary immigration checks carried out by the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee in the borderlands with Belgium and Germany, the research explores the extent to which the framework might leave room for crimmigration-based decisions on the street level. As the article shows, the dual nature of the Mobile Security Monitor as both an instrument for immigration control and crime control combined with an important name-change and the ongoing securitization of migration in Europe seem to create a favourable environment for crimmigration.

Deze bijdrage stelt in een high level outline een aantal trends aan de orde dat in dit verband aandacht verdient. Hoewel deze trends zonder meer van betekenis zijn op het terrein van anti-corruptie, overstijgen zij deze focus en verdienen zij aandacht in breder verband. Tevens wordt in deze bijdrage een aantal te verwachten ontwikkelingen beschreven. Bij het schrijven dit artikel is met een schuin oog gekeken naar de praktijk aan gene zijde van de oceaan.

Victims play an increasingly more prominent role in the criminal justice process. While the consequences of victim participation in the judicial process have been criticized by researchers and practitioners alike, the possible negative consequences of secondary victimization has been largely neglected in this debate. From a social psychological perspective, I discuss research on just-world theory that can explain these negative reactions and give some insight into the processes that play a role in both negative and positive reactions toward victims. Implications for the law practitioners and scholars will be discussed.

In the course of it short existence, Socio-legal studies (SLS) in the Anglo-Saxon world has burgeoned into a rich and variegated field. Reviewing it is therefore a challenging task. I begin with some general reflections and an outline of recent developments. Although these indicate an extremely vibrant field, concerns have been expressed for the future. In my discussion of these, I argue that our analysis of SLS needs to be historicised since the emergence of SLS is connected to processes of social modernization and democratization. The erosion of these processes by neo-liberal discourses and policies is the background to a discussion of my own research into the impact of the cuts to civil legal aid in England and Wales. This leads me to conclude that the fundamental dissonance between neo-liberal rationality and social science may portend a difficult future, in particular for empirical work; however, I note too that other developments such as the ongoing juridification of society and new social media may make continued SL engagement irresistible.

In this paper we examine to what extent a prison record negatively affects employment and accommodation outcomes after release from prison. Two randomized field experiments were conducted in which we had fictitious persons respond by email to online job openings and online advertisements for rented accommodations. In total, we responded to 384 job openings and to 231 advertisements for rented accommodations. Contrary to expectations, applicants with a prison record were not less likely to receive a positive response from employers than applicants without a prison record. Applicants with a non-western background, however, were less likely to receive a positive response. In the housing experiment, we did find a significant effect of having a prison record. Former prisoners were less likely to receive a positive response during their search for a place to live.

Criminal law is embedded in a specific view of man and the world. This thesis implies that a change of the view of man and the world leads necessarily to a change of criminal law. Since our view of man and the world is constantly changing, the same applies for our law governing wrongful conduct. In this article is described how our view of man and the world has changed through the ages (during pre-modernity and modernity) and what changes have occurred under the influence thereof. Given the limited size of this article, a macro-perspective is utilized. At the end of the article, the author advocates a new (trans-modern) view of man and the world and a new corresponding law governing wrongful conduct.

The doctrinal methodology is in a period of change and transition. Realising that the scope of the doctrinal method is too constricting, academic lawyers are becoming eclectic in their use of research method. In this transitional time, legal scholars are increasingly infusing evidence (and methods) from other disciplines into their reasoning to bolster their reform recommendations.
This article considers three examples of the interplay of the discipline of law with other disciplines in the pursuit of law reform. Firstly the article reviews studies on the extent of methodologies and reformist frameworks in PhD research in Australia. Secondly it analyses a ‘snapshot’ of recently published Australian journal articles on criminal law reform. Thirdly, it focuses on the law reform commissions, those independent government committees that play such an important role in law reform in common law jurisdictions.
This examination demonstrates that while the doctrinal core of legal scholarship remains intact, legal scholars are endeavouring to accommodate statistics, comparative perspectives, social science evidence and methods, and theoretical analysis, within the legal research framework, in order to provide additional ballast to the recommendations for reform.