The positioning of the Prosecution Service in the Netherlands and England and Wales: Lessons from one extreme to another

It has been widely acknowledged that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), has since it came into existence, had an unsteady start. Part of the problem relates to its relation and communication with its criminal justice partners, by which we mean courts, police and local and central government. A key issue in this respect appears to be striking a balance between independence and autonomy on the one hand, and close contact and the establishment of `partnership' on the other hand. This paper examine show this balance is struck in the Netherlands, where the Prosecution service (Openbaar Ministerie) is strikingly different in nature, but faces very similar problems. It will be argued that a slightly more relaxed attitude on the CPS's independence might open the door to more fruitful relationship with the criminal justice partners in the field. Several examples concerning this in the Netherlands will be presented and discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bringing Protection Home: Healing the Schism Between International Obligations and National Safeguards Created by Extraterritorial Processing

Extraterritorial processing schemes are designed to preventand deter access to statutory and judicial safeguards in thecountry responsible for the interception and transfer of asylumseekers to a third country. In line with this objective, theyincorporate interdiction, transfer and processing practicesand standards that are deliberately isolated from the nationallegal and institutional protections within either the interceptingstate or the third country where processing occurs. Australia'srecent disbandment of its extraterritorial processing centresin third countries highlights the fact that extraterritorialprocessing schemes have proven unworkable as a matter of internationallaw, as they negate the national safeguards fundamental to thesatisfaction of a state's protection obligations.