№ 197. Постанова про відмову у перегляді справи на Костянтина Бутвиненка від 10 липня 1958 р.

The criminal justice system in Western countries is ever more frequently facing the question of how to deal with immigrants’ cultural practices, such as honour killings, blood revenges and female circumcision, better known as ‘Female Genital Mutilation’, that are considered to be in violation of human rights. Especially practicing Female Genital Mutilation has been subjected to an intense debate in the last four decades. This debate culminated provisionally in the recently adopted resolution by the United Nations, which calls upon its member states to eliminate this practice. Despite such calls, the results of criminal enforcement in banning this practice diverge in many countries. This raise the question whether national views on citizenship and multiculturalism may offer an explanation for the divergent enforcement practices in the area of Female Genital Mutilation. This study pays in particular attention to the way France, England and the Netherlands have criminalised Female Genital Mutilation and whether the results of their legal approaches in banning this practice by using criminal law, can be declared from their particular notions of citizenship

Women in Physics in the Netherlands: Progress and Developments

The visibility of women and the awareness of a healthy gender balance in physics in the Netherlands have clearly improved over the last few years. Initiatives to promote women and their possibilities to pursue a career in physics are plentiful and commendable. Nevertheless, the numbers do not yet show the desired impact of all these initiatives. Although student numbers have increased, the percentage of female first-year student remains at approximately 13% of the total students in physics. Similarly, the relative numbers of female PhD candidates and postdocs have been stable over the last years at (both) approximately 20% to 25%. Despite the number of women obtaining a PhD in physics and continuing a scientific career as postdoc, the presence of women further up on the scientific ladder in physics remains strikingly low. We will here focus on the current status, ambitions, and initiatives in the Netherlands to promote women, and especially to keep them, in physics

Recognising Victimhood: Lessons from the International Criminal Court and Mass Claim Programmes for the Compensation Procedure Parallel to the Trial of International Crimes in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the Dutch criminal court in The Hague (hereinafter: ‘Netherlands International Crimes Court’ or ‘NIC court’) is assigned to try international crimes, and to provide compensation to victims of such crimes. Whereas it has specific criminal laws at its disposal to try international crimes, it applies ‘regular’ Dutch civil law to assess claims for compensation. Yet compensation for international crimes entails challenges that are quite different from domestic crimes: international crimes are normally committed against a large number of victims, and frequently result in bodily harm. This article argues that the NIC court will most likely rule a large number of claims for compensation inadmissible, as a consequence of which victims cannot benefit from the advantages inherent in the award of compensation within the criminal process. It then explores the adjudicative and reparatory standards that the International Criminal Court and mass claim programmes have applied to simplify both the adjudication of a large number of claims, and the calculation of a large number of instances of bodily damage. It is submitted that adoption by the NIC court of international reparatory standards could facilitate the assessment of a large number of civil claims within the criminal process, without prejudice to the legitimate interests of the defendant for an adequate procedure. However, these standards require the NIC court to strike a new balance between tailor-made compensation and symbolic compensation, and thereby between corrective justice and restorative justice

Alles naar wens? Observaties naar aanleiding van het conceptwetsvoorstel ter aanvulling van het spreekrecht voor slachtoffers en nabestaanden in het strafproces

Since 2005, Dutch victims of serious crime have the right to make an oral statement in court (‘spreekrecht’). In the past decade, the Dutch criminal justice system has accommodated this right to make an oral statement with regard to the consequences of the crime; no major problems have occurred. Indeed, only a minority of the victims consumes this right (ca. 230 cases annually), the majority prefers to lodge a written statement. Nevertheless, the Dutch legislature is of the opinion that the right to make an oral statement should be extended and has lodged a draft-proposal recently. The aim is to provide crime victims a right to put forward an advice to the judge at the trial session, such an advice relating to the full scheme of judicial decision-making (truth, legal qualification, punishment). Such a provision resembles a Victim Statement of Opinion, used in the American scheme of justice, and even exceeds this. The draft has been met with criticism, only the Dutch Victim Support is in favor. One of the objections heard is the one dimensional focus underlying the draft: by focusing on a specific group of victims – those who have suffered from serious crimes – the legislature neglects the heterogeneous nature of victims’ needs

Crime compensation implies retribution?: Crime compensation anno 2022

De gedachte dat het schadeverhaal na strafbare feiten berust op civielrechtelijke grondslag is achterhaald. De positie van het slachtoffer is dermate veranderd dat niet alleen diens processuele, maar ook diens materiële aanspraken berusten op strafrechtelijke grondslag. In elk geval is het nodig, mede met het oog op de modernisering van het Wetboek van Strafvordering, om een meer principieel antwoord te formuleren op de vraag naar de rechtsgrondslag voor deze vorm van schadeverhaal. In dit artikel wordt daartoe een aanzet gegeven. Geconcludeerd wordt dat het schadeverhaal een eigensoortige rechtsvordering is geworden, gesitueerd in het strafrechtelijk spectrum. Dat wijst in de richting van de wenselijkheid van een in te voeren schadevergoedingstraf, met daaraan verbonden rechtsgevolgen. Die invoering en de mogelijke rechtsgevolgen ervan worden in het artikel ook verkend. Het vertrekpunt daarbij is dat de aanspraak op schadevergoeding moet worden opgevat als een vordering sui generis, met daarin gelegen een vergeldend element