Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming
Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming
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The Council was set up on 1 April 2001, when the Central Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice, dating from 1953, merged with the Juvenile Custodial Institutions Advisory Board, founded in 1955. The Council has 60 members: specialists in prison law, juvenile and family law and behavioural sciences, members of the judiciary and the legal profession, public administration officials, and a number of physicians. The Council is an independent body; members, who are Crown-appointed, are not associated with the Ministry of Justice or other organisations active within the Council’s remit.
The state is responsible for the care of offenders and young people are in a dependent position, and need protection against arbitrary violations of their fundamental rights. As an independent advisory the Council assists the state in discharging this responsibility.
The Council has two tasks: administering justice and giving advice on youth protection and the enforcement of sentences and non-punitive orders. The Council initially had a supervisory task, but this lapsed when the Act establishing the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles was passed on 1 October 2006. The Council now acts exclusively as an advisory and judicial body.
By administering justice and producing advisory reports, Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles helps to ensure that the government and the relevant implementing bodies take sufficient account of the principle of proper treatment and the legal status of those entrusted to the government for the enforcement of penalties and young people entrusted to government institutions for their own protection.
The Council advises the Minister of Justice on policy implementation and the application of rules in the following areas:
The Ministry of Justice is obliged to provide care both for young people and for those serving sentences or subject to non-punitive orders.This care must be as good and effective as possible. The Council contributes to this through its advisory reports (solicited or unsolicited), with a particular emphasis on the reintegration of offenders into society. The advisory reports largely concentrate on improving implementation practice. In 2005 and 2006, for example, the Council produced advisory reports on:
The Council also regularly reports on more theoretical matters or on areas for which policy is still being developed. The advisory report issued in September 2005 on the separation of young people subject to civil and criminal law orders is an example of this. As a follow-up to this report in March 2006 the Council organised a workshop for policymakers and academics. Other advisory reports are:
Each year the Council produces around twenty advisory reports.The most important ones can be found (in Dutch) at www.rsj.nl. As part of its supervisory work, for many years the Council could make first-hand observations of prisons, young offenders’ institutions, secure hospitals and the probation and aftercare service. These observations often prompted unsolicited advisory reports, and provided much of the material on which reports were based. Now that it is no longer active as a supervisory body the Council collects data during thematic, advice-oriented working visits.This focused approach offers new possibilities. It is for this reason that the Council retains its right to access all institutions where persons are held.
The Council reviews on appeal decisions made regarding persons serving a custodial sentence or detention order:
The Council can also review decisions made by an institution's governor, medical treatment provided by an institution’s doctor or decisions made by an assignment officer or the Minister of Justice. Matters on which the Council may be asked to rule includ:e
The Council reviews cases in the light of the law (particularly the Custodial Institutions Act, the Hospital Orders (Framework) Act and the Young Offenders’ Institutions (Framework) Act) and the principles of reasonableness and fairness. The Council’s decision is binding: there is no further appeal.
The number of cases heard by the Council has escalated in recent years. In 2002 2,700 cases were dealt with; this had risen to nearly 3,400 in 2006, representing an increase of more than 25%.
Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles
P.O. Box 30137
2500 GC The Hague
The Netherlands
telephone: +31 (0)70 361 93 00
e-mail: info@rsj.nl
