Currently around 35 Dutch adults and 60 children who have a connection with the Netherlands live in camps in North Syria. The Dutch cabinet maintains its inactive policy for years now, which holds... Show moreCurrently around 35 Dutch adults and 60 children who have a connection with the Netherlands live in camps in North Syria. The Dutch cabinet maintains its inactive policy for years now, which holds that it will not repatriate the adults and the children that travelled to (or were born in) North Syria. The question is to what extent these children and their parents fall under Dutch jurisdiction with respect to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights, and if so, what obligations would flow from these human rights treaties. Recently, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the European Court on Human Rights ruled that the government of France has certain obligations towards a group of French adults and children in North Syria. On the basis of these recent views the stance of the Dutch cabinet will be evaluated. Show less
Exclusion and self-exclusion from the labor market In the Netherlands, the number of criminal record screenings performedeach year skyrocketed to more than one million. Yet, empiricalevidence on... Show moreExclusion and self-exclusion from the labor market In the Netherlands, the number of criminal record screenings performedeach year skyrocketed to more than one million. Yet, empiricalevidence on its effects has been largely absent. In this article theauthor addresses parts of the findings of her PhD research, whichaimed to fill this gap, by providing a subjective perspective of howhaving a criminal record impacts the process of re-entry into society,particularly into the labor market, for young adults. It is based on thelived experiences of 31 young adults having a criminal record whowere followed during their process of reintegration into the labor market.The vivid, real-life stories of young adults’ strategies of dealingwith the stigma of a criminal record, and how this subsequently influencestheir position in the labor market, highlight the counterproductiveeffects of increasingly widespread criminal record screening. Theyprovide evidence that many young adults adopt self-exclusion as astrategy for avoiding rejection and exclusion. Show less
Although traditionally, it has been argued that intelligence and securityservices can barely be discussed in public – a veil of secrecy makes a thorough and informed debate almost impossible, the... Show moreAlthough traditionally, it has been argued that intelligence and securityservices can barely be discussed in public – a veil of secrecy makes a thorough and informed debate almost impossible, the outside world is ignorant, say the insiders – we argue that today’s mature civil society does not accept that anymore. Although the government has struggled to address social anxiety and political criticism in the past decades, communication and strategic discussions have never received proper attention. Due to the technological changes, affecting the intelligence practice as well as daily life of citizens, the authors argue that the positioning of intelligence and security services in the broader democratic state should receive structural attention and sustainable communication efforts. Show less
Since intelligence and espionage are so secret by nature, discussing itproves to be rather difficult. Debates about intelligence therefore tend to be fought with metaphors. Using Johnson’s and... Show moreSince intelligence and espionage are so secret by nature, discussing itproves to be rather difficult. Debates about intelligence therefore tend to be fought with metaphors. Using Johnson’s and Lakoff’s idea that metaphors provide conceptual frameworks and thus have real-world effects, as well as Butler’s idea of performative power, this article has explored the most widely used metaphors in Dutch intelligence history.The Dutch security services have been depicted, in a wide variety of images, broadly as remnants of the past (ruins or ‘anachronisms’),as spies on wooden shoes, as a stowaway of democracy, and as a state within the state. Since the civil servants and politicians almost always felt the need to respond to these metaphors, by providing explanation, nuance, and facts – or by introducing a competing metaphor – it isargued that these metaphors have real-world effects, showing how the security service was positioned in politics and society. Show less
This article analyses to what extent current responses to crime committed by immigrants can be seen as a modern version of the classical practice of banishment. To that end it analyses three recent... Show moreThis article analyses to what extent current responses to crime committed by immigrants can be seen as a modern version of the classical practice of banishment. To that end it analyses three recent policy developments directed at criminally convicted immigration. The analysis shows that during the last ten years there has been a sharp increase in the number of immigrants losing their residence permit following a criminal conviction. Moreover, punishment aimed at criminally convicted immigrants without a legal right to stay is increasingly aimed at permanent exclusion through the practice of deportation. Drawing on the theoretical notions of crimmigration and bordered penality, it is therefore argued that criminally convicted immigrants increasingly see themselves confronted with punishment practices that are the modern equivalent of the classical practice of banishment. This raises important questions about where we should draw the line between insiders and outsiders. Show less
In 2018 the Dutch parliament accepted new cybercrime legislation (the Cybercrime III Act) that creates several new online criminal offences and gives law enforcement agencies new investigative... Show moreIn 2018 the Dutch parliament accepted new cybercrime legislation (the Cybercrime III Act) that creates several new online criminal offences and gives law enforcement agencies new investigative powers on the Internet. This article describes the background of Dutch cybercrime legislation and the contents of the Cybercrime III Act. The newly introduced cybercrimes are discussed as well as the new investigative competences. Particularly the legitimacy and the necessity of the investigative power of the police to hack computer systems of suspects may significantly interfere with the right to privacy. Show less
This study investigates the strategies people themselves use to deal with situations in which they fear crime. The authors see people as social agents who hold agency and (also) manage their own... Show moreThis study investigates the strategies people themselves use to deal with situations in which they fear crime. The authors see people as social agents who hold agency and (also) manage their own safety, instead of viewing people as powerless victims. Previous studies have emphasized people’s agency, often through a focus on avoiding dangerous spaces. Building on insights from the fear of crime literature that approaches fear of crime as situational, the authors illustrate how spaces in which people worry about crime can also be transformed (through action) into safe(r) spaces. The article focuses on the context of urban nightlife areas. Thirty students living in Utrecht, the Netherlands were interviewed. Results show that students perform a range of strategies to cope with their fear, including situational avoidance, arranging companionship, increasing alertness, and reasoning. In the discussion the authors reflect on how the application of such strategies is related to (erosion of) ‘mobility’ and individual freedom of movement. Show less
This article analyses to what extent current responses to crime committed by immigrants can be seen as a modern version of the classical practice of banishment. To that end it analyses three recent... Show moreThis article analyses to what extent current responses to crime committed by immigrants can be seen as a modern version of the classical practice of banishment. To that end it analyses three recent policy developments directed at criminally convicted immigration. The analysis shows that during the last ten years there has been a sharp increase in the number of immigrants losing their residence permit following a criminal conviction. Moreover, punishment aimed at criminally convicted immigrants without a legal right to stay is increasingly aimed at permanent exclusion through the practice of deportation. Drawing on the theoretical notions of crimmigration and bordered penality, it is therefore argued that criminally convicted immigrants increasingly see themselves confronted with punishment practices that are the modern equivalent of the classical practice of banishment. This raises important questions about where we should draw the line between insiders and outsiders. Show less
This Dutch version of this article is online at www.wodc.nl/images/jv1504-volledige-tekst_tcm44-604470.pdf/#page=67 and the English version at www.articolo29.it/genius. This article gives a... Show moreThis Dutch version of this article is online at www.wodc.nl/images/jv1504-volledige-tekst_tcm44-604470.pdf/#page=67 and the English version at www.articolo29.it/genius. This article gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats (such as registered partnership and de facto union) have been made available in a growing number of countries. The number of countries that have opened up marriage to same-sex couples is also growing. Authors of comparative family law have proposed various classifications of the new legal family formats. Meanwhile, an increasing number of EU laws now acknowledge non-marital partners. The European Courts have been asked several times to rule on controversial differentiations between different legal family formats or between same-sex and different-sex partners. In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights one can find examples of affirmative eloquence which suggest that more steps towards full legal recognition of same-sex families could be expected. This is an edited and updated version of the article 'Great diversity and some equality: non-marital legal family formats for same-sex couples in Europe', that appeared in the book: M. van den Brink et al. (eds.), Equality and human rights: nothing but trouble? – Liber amicorum Titia Loenen, Utrecht, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights 2015 (SIM Special 38, p. 223-245 & 414) and in the journal: GenIUS – Rivista di studi giuridici sull’orientamento sessuale e l’identità di genere 2014 (p. 42-56). Show less
