There is a growing consensus among practitioners that independent peer review is the preferred approach to furthering trust in the legal professions. The article draws on experience abroad, as reported in the professional literature, and lessons from comparable arrangements at home, in academia and the medical professions. It formulates an institutional design in which an autonomous agency, independent of the Lawyers' Association and at arms' length from the Minister of Justice, develops methodology and organizes peer reviews by fellow-practitioners. Since professionals, everywhere, like to share experience, it is argued that making site-visits, sampling case-files, and discussing a self-evaluation of the practice under review promotes open innovation and creates scope for shaping rather than controlling professional excellence. It also allows for discretion in catering to the widely diverging needs of large international law firms and small local practices that a system of command and control could not deliver.

Mediation met slachtoffer en dader kan een succesvolle interventie zijn in het kader van het strafproces. Zowel een verwijzing naar mediation als de afspraken die slachtoffer en dader hebben vastgelegd in een mediationovereenkomst kunnen door de rechter worden opgelegd als bijzondere voorwaarde. Door gebruik te maken van deze mogelijkheden kan de rechter een impuls geven aan de ontwikkeling van een court-connected systeem voor mediation. Nederland zou daarmee aansluiten bij de internationale opmars van toepassing van mediation als interventie in het strafrecht. In dit artikel worden een aantal uitgangspunten van court-connected strafrechtmediation uitgewerkt.

The distribution of child pornography on the internet is observed as a major social problem. In the Netherlands a lively political-social discussion has emerged concerning the manner in which this can be prevented. The discussion moves between two polarities. On the one hand the dangers of internet censure are emphasised and on the other hand the need for a clamp down in which every measure seems to be justified. The present government wants to combat child pornography and by doing so answer the moral indignation of society. A means that the Dutch government, and on her behalf the police, uses, is blocking websites with child-pornographic content. The possibilities of the Dutch government to filter effectively, however, are restricted. The accuracy of existing filters is low and it is easy to get around filters. In addition, opportunities are restricted by constitutional rights. A filter that stops all websites with child pornography is bound to stop legal internet traffic too. That is at odds with the constitutional rights of freedom of expression and freedom of information gathering. The realisation of a filter that respects fundamental rights and still is able to block child pornography requires a lot of police manpower. This comes at the expense of the tracking down of criminals who produce and distribute child pornography. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the use of the child-pornography filter leads to the purposes for which they are deployed, such as hindering the sale of child pornography or reducing the abuse of children. The police, therefore, is assigned to a task that requires a considerable amount of time, but the benefits of which are unclear.

Op 10 april 2009 heeft de Hoge Raad een voor de mediationpraktijk belangrijk arrest gewezen door zich uit te spreken over de omvang van de getuigplicht van de mediator. In deze bijdrage wordt een overzicht gegeven van de methoden die in de mediationpraktijk zijn ontwikkeld om het vertrouwelijke karakter van een mediation te beschermen. Vervolgens wordt het arrest van de Hoge Raad besproken, waarin deze zich uitlaat over de wijze waarop deze methoden moeten worden gehanteerd. Tot slot wordt ingegaan op de vraag wanneer het vertrouwelijke karakter van de mediation lijkt te kunnen worden doorbroken.

Toegang tot documenten op grond van de Wob en de Eurowob kan een belangrijke rol gaan spelen in mededingingsprocedures, bijvoorbeeld bij de bewijsvergaring in civiele procedures gebaseerd op het mededingingsrecht. Het daadwerkelijke belang van de openbaarheidsregimes zal afhangen van de interpretatie van de uitzonderingsgronden, op basis waarvan toegang tot documenten mag worden geweigerd. Dit artikel bespreekt de interpretatie van deze uitzonderingsgronden uit de jurisprudentie en beschikkingenpraktijk in voor het mededingingsrecht belangrijke potentiële toepassingen van de openbaarheidsregimes. Aan de hand hiervan zal een inschatting worden gegeven van de mogelijkheden en risico’s van toepassing van de openbaarheidsregimes in het mededingingsrecht

Wetgevingsprocessen moeten steeds democratischer en transparanter. De vraag is of een betere inbreng en verhoogde participatie van burgers de wet ook altijd beter maakt. Daarom is het experiment dat in 2007 in Nieuw-Zeeland werd gehouden om via een zogenoemde ‘wiki’ een wet voor te bereiden, interessant. Het experiment geldt als geslaagd. Iets voor Nederland?

In Dutch case law mediation has become a common phenomenon. Therefore, recent cases focussed on fundamental aspects of mediation are discussed.

In een redactioneel artikel geeft de redactie een toelichting op het tijdschriftnummer in kwestie.

CEPINA, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation recently published special mediation rules for the resolution of IT disputes. The most important rules are discussed. Also the background of this initiative is highlighted.

This article reports the findings of a series of interviews with a juvenile judge, a public prosecutor and a judge who operates during the administration of the prison sentence. Their role is inquired as this appears in the practices of victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing and victim oriented initiatives during the implementation of the prison sentence. The interviews relate to developments in the Flemish and Brussels region of Belgium and took place against the background of previous findings from research and practice. First, the (legal) context in which public prosecutors and judges are entering into contact with restorative practices is presented. Their role in offering or starting up different types of mediation and conferencing are discussed into detail. Also, the way in which the victim can participate in the administration of the prison sentence is dealt with. As a next step, the role of public prosecutors and judges after mediation or conferencing has taken place is analysed. To which extent can or should they take the outcome of restorative or victim oriented practices into account in further decision making processes? Furthermore attention is given to the relevance and applicability of important restorative justice principles such as voluntary participation and confidentiality when the case goes through the criminal justice process. The article ends with some general evaluative findings on the attitudes and the support of legal professionals towards restorative justice and restorative practices.

This article sets the stage for the discussion on the role of legal professionals – lawyers and magistrates – in restorative practices. A common task they have is controlling the respect of fundamental rights of the participants in restorative justice practices. How important this task is, will vary according to different variables such as the goals of restorative justice programs and their position towards the criminal justice system. Lauwaert goes on to sketch in separate parts the possible roles of respectively magistrates and lawyers before, during and after mediation or conferences. She refers to the European legislative framework which foresees an important role for magistrates as gatekeepers and assessors of restorative outcomes and explores the strengths and problems these roles evoke. She refers to her own research to explore the attitudes of magistrates towards restorative practices. Concerning the role of lawyers, the European legislative framework is quite vague, and the article tries to analyse more in depth the possibilities and obstacles for lawyers to contribute to the quality of mediation. The lack of knowledge of and acquaintance with the world of restorative justice and mediation is detected as a serious obstacle for further development of this field of action.