Minister Franc Weerwind wants to change the law so that from now on, not he but a special court can decide whether life-sentenced persons will be released. He wrote a letter to the House of Representatives about this and explained his intentions in a broadcast of Nieuwsuur. Weerwind’s decision is based on, among other things, the outcome of a study by Paul Mevis, Pieter Verrest and Claire Hofman, researchers at Erasmus School of Law.
Since 2017, lifelong prisoners have been entitled to a reassessment of the executions of their sentence after 27 years of detention in the Netherlands. This decision is made by the Minister for Legal Protection, who can grant a pardon. The minister’s decision is prepared by the Advisory Committee on Life Sentences, which consists of experts from various disciplines.
Last year, researchers from Erasmus School of Law, Paul Mevis, Pieter Verrest and Claire Hofman, conducted research into the system for the reassessment of the implementation of the life sentence on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Security.
In a letter that Weerwind sent to the House of Representatives in June, he elaborates on the results of this research and responds positively to the advice that the Dutch Council for the Administration of Justice and Protection of Juveniles published last month. The advice of this Council states that the current procedure has a ‘political character’. Transforming the assessment into an independent judicial review will give detainees better legal guarantees because a minister will always consider the political climate when deciding. Â