Children between twelve and eighteen who commit a criminal offence are generally tried under juvenile justice. Juvenile justice is characterised by a strong pedagogical nature, focusing on the best interests of the young offender and imposing lower penalties. After all, children's brains are not fully developed, and they cannot always be expected to foresee the consequences of their actions. Despite the decrease in youth crime, the offences committed by young offenders are becoming increasingly severe. Should sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds be punished under adult criminal law instead? Currently, this is done sporadically, but Ruud Verkuijlen, a member of the VVD party, argues in an opinion piece in the Telegraaf that it should become the rule rather than the exception for certain offences. The newspaper sought a response from Jolande uit Beijerse, Professor of Juvenile Justice Interventions and Associate Professor of Criminal Law at Erasmus School of Law. In her response, she explains why Verkuijlen's proposal is not the solution.
Article 77b of the Dutch Penal Code allows the judge to impose an adult sanction on a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old. This can be done if the judge deems that an adult sanction should be imposed considering the offence's seriousness, the offender's personality, or the circumstances in which the offence was committed. "Hardly any other European country makes an exception to that upper limit of eighteen years", says Uit Beijerse. This authority is also occasionally exercised. "Prison sentences of up to 18 years have been imposed, with or without combination with TBS [forensic psychiatric treatment], that can be extended up to life imprisonment in extreme cases. This is an extremely far-reaching possibility."
Criminal network and prospects of a flourishing criminal career
"It is telling that young people sometimes prefer being in prison because they can 'do their thing' there", argues Uit Beijerse in her opinion piece in the Telegraaf. "Unlike in juvenile detention, they don't have to (and can't) go to school, and after years, they leave prison without any perspective, except for a criminal career for which they have built a large network all those years."
Juvenile detention aims to promote behavioural change. This can be achieved, for example, by imposing a PIJ measure, a form of youth TBS, in case of the young offender's developmental disorders or mental conditions. "From conversations with young people in juvenile detention, I know that their biggest fear is being subjected to a PIJ measure", argues Uit Beijerse, responding to her opponent's claim that young people consider this a joke. "This measure can be extended up to seven years, and you are constantly monitored and judged based on your behaviour. In exceptional cases, it can even be converted into an adult TBS, which can last a lifetime."
Punishing children as adults is not the solution
"So, the proposal to impose adult sanctions as a rule on sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds for serious offences seems unnecessary and counterproductive", concludes Uit Beijerse. The Professor adds that she shares the concerns, but applying adult sanctions is not the solution: "It also does not provide a solution for the problem of boys walking the streets with large knives or being recruited to do tasks for organized crime in exchange for money. These young people do not come from 'poor' neighbourhoods by chance. They are young people who feel excluded, largely grow up on the streets, and lack positive role models."
In this regard, Uit Beijerse points out that due to staff shortages, the police have lost mainly their contact and information position in neighbourhoods, caused by the disappearance of neighbourhood teams and youth police. "I think society would benefit more from addressing the root causes," advocates Uit Beijerse. "This way, we are not only reacting to shocking crimes but also preventing them."
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Read the entire opinion piece by Uit Beijerse in the Telegraaf (in Dutch).