About | Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming
About | Raad voor Strafrechtstoepassing en Jeugdbescherming
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The Council is an independent body with two tasks: administering justice and giving advice on youth protection and the enforcement of sentences and non-punitive orders. The Council consists of sixty members, amongst whom are experts on penitentiary law and science, juvenile and family law and behavioural sciences, as well as members of the judiciary, public administration, advocacy and medical doctors. The Council being an independent body, members are appointed by royal decree and have no ties with any ministry or service dealing with matters concerning the Council’s competence. The Council has been established in 2001, combining its two predecessors (CRS, 1953 and CAJK, 1955).
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.
By administering justice and producing advisory reports, the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles sees to it that the government, in developing as well as enforcing measures concerning criminal justice and juvenile protection, acts in a legally correct way and according to principles of proper treatment.
The Council advises the Minister of Safety and Justice and other ministers, solicited as well as unsolicited, on policy implementation and the application of rules in the following areas:
The enforcement of sentences and non-punitive orders;
Youth protection.
Many advisory reports concern the improving of implementation practice but the Council also deals with matters of principle or issues in process of policy-making. Recent advisory reports are:
The Council combines data from scientific sources with information obtained by visits to custodial institutions (to which end the Council has a right of access to these institutions), interviews and expert meetings.
As a follow-up to his reports the Council annually organises workshops for policymakers and academics.
About fifteen advices appear every year. These are published (in Dutch) at www.rsj.nl; summaries are available in English.
The Council reviews on appeal decisions made regarding persons serving a custodial sentence or detention order: prisoners, hospital order patients and young people held in young offenders institutions.
The Council also reviews 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 Safety and Justice. Matters on which the Council may be asked to rule are for instance
The Council gives judgement according to law (particularly the Custodial Institutions Act, the Hospital Orders (Framework) Act and the Young Offenders’ Institutions (Framework) Act) and principles of reasonableness and fairness. No further appeal existing, the Council’s decisions are binding.
In recent years the number of cases dealt with by the Council has considerably increased: from 2,700 cases in 2002, through 3,400 in 2006 to more than 3,900 in 2010.
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
web address: www.rsj.nl
e-mail: info@rsj.nl
