Netherlands Insolvency Law: The Netherlands Bankruptcy Act and the Most Important Legal Concepts

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Forensic medicine in The Netherlands

In this paper a review is given of the evolution of the Dutch Forensic Medical Association (Forensisch Medisch Genootschap, FMG): post-graduate education and the position of the police surgeon today in the Dutch legal and medical society. In just a couple of years forensic medicine has grown into a respected form of social health with worldwide contacts.     

Quantitative criminology in The Netherlands

This article briefly describes quantitative criminology in The Netherlands since the seventies. Dutch quantitative criminologists have been active in most fields of the discipline of criminology: research has been done on the etiology of crime and, in relation to this, the self-report methodology. A number of victimization surveys have been executed, and in relation to this, attention was given to fear of crime, victims in the judicial system, and situational approaches to crime. There has been research on policy evaluation, sentencing, and differential treatment in the criminal justice system, and alternative sanctions. Recently three major international studies have been coordinated by Dutch criminologists: an international self-report study, an international victim survey of households, and an international survey of victimization among businesses. In this article we describe the first two studies and briefly compare some of their features. Overall, it appears that Dutch quantitative criminology is embedded in the international mainstream of criminology and, in general, has been strongly related to policy concerns.     

Non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia in The Netherlands: Dutch perspectives

During the summer of 1999, twenty-eight interviews with some of the leading authorities on euthanasia policy were conducted in the Netherlands. They were asked about cases of non-voluntary (when patients are incompetent) and involuntary euthanasia (when patients are competent and made no request to die). This study reports the main findings, showing that most respondents are quite complacent with regard to breaches of the guideline that require the patient's consent as a prerequisite to performance of euthanasia.     

荷兰的缓刑制度

19世纪80年代,随着人道主义思想的传播,加之20世纪初传统刑法改革所提出的刑罚个别化的思想,行刑不再片面强调惩罚犯人与预防犯罪,犯人的矫正和重归社会得到更多关注,社区矫正和其他以社区为基础的现代刑罚措施开始彰显效益,缓刑制度逐渐受到人们的重视。19世纪90年代开始,欧洲     

"Culture of death" in The Netherlands: Dutch perspectives

During the summer of 1999, extensive interviews with some of the leading authorities on euthanasia policy were conducted in the Netherlands. They were asked: Daniel Callahan argues that there is a 'culture of death' in the Netherlands. What do you think? The majority of interviewees disagreed with the statement. They said that the Netherlands is not fundamentally different than other countries. If at all, the Dutch culture is open and tolerant, welcomes debates and plurality of views, and physicians are decent people who wish to help their patients, not to kill them. A small minority acknowledged that there is some truth in Callahan's observations, arguing that the Dutch actually do not welcome critique and are quite conservative in their liberal attitude toward euthanasia.     

Hospital policy in The Netherlands: the parameters of structural stalemate

The Dutch hospital sector has recently been the subject of two divergent national policy initiatives. Following a mixed experience with regulation in the mid-1980s, the national government has now taken the first steps in a radical shift toward market-based competition. This article suggests that neither official strategy can address the fundamental structural and cultural factors that shape institutional behavior in the Dutch hospital system. Drawing upon empirical evidence from two 1987 hospital case studies, this article contends that Dutch hospital management reflects a precentralized insularity which, in turn, sharply reduces the likelihood that either publicly or privately framed decentralized strategies can be successfully implemented.     

Family breakdown in nineteenth- century Netherlands: Divorcing couples in The Hague

As in other European countries, divorce became a social issue in the Netherlands from the beginning of the 1880s on. At the same time, divorce rates rose considerably. To examine whether the public debates were reflected in the behavior of Dutch couples, an empirical study was conducted of divorce in the second half of the nineteenth century. Use was made of a case-control research design in which the social characteristics of all marriages which ended in divorce were compared with those of a random sample from the marriages which ended in widowhood. The author analyzed a group of 2,300 marriages contracted in The Hague from their inception until their dissolution by death of divorce. All migrants were followed to their new place of residence. Multivariate (proportional hazards) analysis showed that the highest probability of divorce was found among persons who had already gone through a divorce before. Other factors related to divorce were high mobility, low ages at marriage, and large age and religious differences between spouses. Higher social classes had relatively high divorce risks.     

Group Delinquency in The Netherlands: Some Findings from an Exploratory Study

The phenomenon of group delinquency is, by and large, still terra incognita in the Netherlands. This paper presents a number of findings from a recent Dutch study on this subject. The findings result from a literature review, a (re-)analysis of Dutch self-report data and a number of interviews with informants and group members. Co-offending (i.e. offences that are committed by more than one person) and groups as a (semi-)organised association are two aspects of group delinquency that are considered here. Groups of youths hanging around and causing nuisance are the most visible manifestation of group behaviour. In 1997, according to a large survey, 12% of the Dutch population indicated that trouble caused by youth groups is an 'often occurring problem'. Concerning actual offending (with others), Dutch self-report data indicate that rates of co-offending are highest with vandalism, drug-related offences, intimidation, arson and participating in riots. Interviews with informants suggest that there is often a gap in local knowledge of problematic or criminal groups. It would seem that group delinquency is not paid structural attention by the various authorities. Besides employing informants, another means of gaining insight into groups is by computer analysis, using police data. This study has also looked at the characteristics of youths who commit offences with others. Findings concerning age, sex, ethnic background, type of offender and, finally, social identity are reported. In conclusion, some suggestions on how to tackle group delinquency are discussed.