What will/will not change because of the new VI regulation?
On 25 June 2019, the House of Representatives passed Minister Dekker's 'Punish and Protect' bill. Meanwhile, the bill is before the Senate for consideration. The Senate issued its first report on 6 March 2020, which is now under further discussion. Although it is not yet known when the Act will enter into force [...]
Is there batter? Get started right away!
If an attachment has been made by the prosecution, this can have very unpleasant consequences. But it is not always necessary to wait until the hearing judge has made a decision on the attachment. Immediately after the seizure, the court can already be asked to order the return of the seized goods. This, depending on the [...]
And what are the penal legislators' good intentions this year?
Now that the powder fumes from the huge amount of fireworks set off have cleared, a brief review of the laws and regulations that came into force on 1 January 2020 is in order. Increase in penalty caps For several offences, the penalty cap has been increased. For example, the penalty maximum for inciting violence, hatred or discrimination [...]
Be active in your criminal proceedings
Advances in science may lead to new forensic-technical investigation methods, which can still confirm a convicted person's statement after a final conviction. In such a case, a review procedure can offer a solution. After all, an application for a review is only considered if there are new facts that shed new light on the case. [...]
Is the data on your smartphone private? Then fingerprint locking is not a good idea.
A phone has long since ceased to be used just to make calls. A smartphone is used to take pictures, communicate, surf the Internet or calculate the fastest route from A to B. As such, a smartphone also contains a lot of information that is nobody's business. That is why the smartphone can be locked with a PIN code. [...]
What is the state of the cannabis experiment?
In the current regulations, selling weed is regulated through a (tolerated) licensing system, but growing weed is not. This leads to the strange situation that coffee shop owners are not punished for selling weed, but growers of the same weed are. Government and the judiciary have been stuck with this well-known [...] for years.
Prosecution gets a lid on its nose in Luxembourg
The prosecution is not a judicial authority to issue a European arrest warrant, according to the EU Court of Justice. In 2002, the Council of the European Union had adopted a framework decision under which conditions a person could be surrendered from one member state to another. This was to unify surrender procedures and [...]
Review: a right to be met
An irrevocable conviction can in principle no longer be appealed. The legislator did not want to encourage convicted persons to keep contesting an accusation/conviction ad infinitum. 'It stops somewhere,' is the thought. Convicted and/or aggrieved persons would at some point benefit most from an acceptance of the verdict. Yet, [...]
If your case depends on a witness statement
In many criminal cases, witness statements play an important role. Their value is sometimes questionable. During the event about which testimony is to be given, witnesses are usually not gathering information accurately. So a mistake is easily made. In addition, witnesses may have been fed information by others, which they [...]
If your case depends on a witness statement
In many criminal cases, witness statements play an important role. Their value is sometimes questionable. During the event about which testimony is to be given, witnesses are usually not gathering information accurately. So a mistake is easily made. In addition, witnesses may have been fed information by others, which they [...]
Does the life sentence now have a real prospect of freedom?
In my September 2014 blog titled: "life sentence and still start resocialising?", I argued for a periodic reassessment of a life sentence imposed. Should detention at some point reasonably no longer serve a purpose recognised under criminal law, the life sentence should be able to be released by pardon. Although life imprisonment is in principle life [...]
Why Wilders has gone too far
Without pluralism, tolerance and broad-mindedness, there is no democracy, according to the European Court of Human Rights. In a democratic society, dissenters should be able to live together. This means that people should also have the freedom to express their views without the fear of being persecuted for doing so. However, it means [...]