International Summaries: Sentencing Requirements and Sentencing Practices in Serious Offense Cases - An Overview of the Years 1973-76 and Analysis of Decisions by Public Prosecutors

• NCJ Number: 85740
• Author(s): O J Zoomer
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 4 pages
• Corporate Author: National Institute of Justice/NCJRS
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: This article summarized and translated by Kathleen Dell'Orto, was originally published in The Netherlands in 1981. NIJ/NCJRS international summary of "De strafvordering en straftoe- meting in gevallen van zware criminaliteit" (NCJ-87677).

Annotation

This overview of sentencing trends in The Netherlands from l973 to l976 focuses on sentencing disparities for various crimes and among different districts, as well as factors influencing sentencing decisions.

Abstract

A statistical analysis of l,527 case files on burglary, extortion, armed robbery, manslaughter, murder, and rape from Den Haag, Den Bosch, and Amsterdam showed that conditional or unconditional prison sentences were imposed in 90 percent of the cases. Variations in the type and severity of sentence appeared to respond to changes in crime rates rather than policy changes. Comparison of sentencing records by district revealed marked differences in types and severity of sentence imposed. The age of the offender and recidivism were important influences on sentencing decisions only for burglary, the least serious offense considered. Victim injuries and victim characteristics had little effect on the severity of penalty. In general, the severity of penalty could be predicted accurately from record data. Legal decisions such as preventive detention and background reports also affected sentencing, probably because both were influenced by the same offender and offense characteristics. A survey of prosecutors also found that relatively few factors, primarily seriousness and method of commission, were weighed in the sentencing decision. The penalty first proposed by the public prosecutor was rarely modified after further review or because of new insights gained in court proceedings. These findings suggest that efforts to achieve a clear approach to sentencing for serious offenses are necessary and raise doubts about the effectiveness of individualized disposition of serious cases in practice. A practical aid in sentencing decisions would be a list of relevant factors to be weighed, including those derived from offense reports and background investigations.