The criminal justice system aims for equal treatment, fairness, and deterrence. Yet, fixed fines impose the same penalty on rich and poor offenders, resulting in unequal burdens and potentially weaker deterrence for wealthier offenders. As a possible solution income-dependent fines, so called day-fines, adjusts penalties based on severity and income. Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko, Professor of Quantitative Empirical Legal Studies at Erasmus School of Law, will research criminal fine models around the world, and the fairness and deterrence of day-fines in her research project JUSTFINES. In October 2025 she received a Vidi-grant from the Dutch Research Counsil (NWO) for this research and was ranked first in her panel.
Over the next five years she will use this prestigious personal grant to research the effectiveness and perception of day-fines through experiments, interviews and cross-country analysis, an innovative research topic and approach that was emphasized by the committee.
Are income-dependent fines conceivable in the Netherlands?
Although several European countries already use an income-based penalty system, whereby for example, high earners who commit traffic offences pay higher fines than low-income offenders, some of these countries failed to implement the system of day-fines due to poor implementation strategies or public resistance.
Is this the solution for the shortcomings of the current fining system?
In this large-scale comparative Vidi-project, Kantorowicz-Reznichenko will employ cutting-edge empirical methods to investigate the determinants of adopting income-dependent fines, perceptions and implementation of such fines and their deterrence capacity. By advancing our theoretical and empirical understanding of income-dependent fines the project can assess whether the shortcomings of fixed fines can be resolved. This project will have a great societal impact as such insights are crucial for countries considering income-dependent fines and those seeking to optimize their current systems.
About the Vidi grant
The Vidi grant is part of the NWO Talent Programme (Veni, Vidi, Vici). Each grant within this programme focuses on a specific phase in a researcher's career. The Vidi grant funds innovative scientific research and enables researchers to establish or expand a research group.
- Professor
- More information
More about the NWO-talent programme.
- Related content
