Prisoners' return to society: (semi-) automatic versus discretionary release. A comparative study of early' release pathways in the Netherlands and Belgium (OZR2547)

With regard to early release, Belgium and the Netherlands have different legal systems, policies and practices, each with their own obstacles and opportunities. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of these practices by comparing the Dutch system of semi-automatic conditional release and the Belgian system of discretionary conditional release, to reveal the barriers and opportunities of these different release trajectories for prisoners who already served at least one prison sentence. Furthermore it aims to situate the data with regard to Belgium and the Netherlands in an international comparative perspective, in order to understand how release policies and practices are related to wider questions about justice and fairness.

Keywords:Sentencing, Pre-Trial Detention, Conditional release, Community Policing, Criminal Policy, Restorative Justice, Criminal Law, Prison Systems, Juvenile Justice, Economic Criminality, Criminal Procedure, penology

Disciplines:Comparative law, Law, Other social sciences, Criminology