NCJ Number
208015
Date Published
September 2004
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This paper examines Belgium's policy of waiving to adult criminal court those juveniles over 16 years old who have committed serious crimes; this is done by comparing Belgium's policy for processing serious juvenile offenders with some other European countries and by examining the outcome of waiver cases in Belgium.
Abstract
A comparison of Belgium's juvenile waiver policy with the management of serious juvenile offenders in France, the Netherlands, Germany, and England and Wales found that the waiver mechanism is used only in England and Wales. In the Netherlands, the juvenile judge functions in the youth court with the power to provide penal sanctions that parallel those used in adult court; there is no circumstance under which a juvenile can be sentenced in an adult court. In France and Germany, juvenile offenders are also managed exclusively within the juvenile justice system under the juvenile code. In these countries, the juvenile code provides for longer maximum detention periods and procedures in the youth court that are similar to those used in adult courts, including trial by jury in serious cases. Apparently, the waiver mechanism is used in Belgium and in England and Wales because of a policy that resists expanding or modifying the distinctive and limited parameters for processing, sentencing, and housing serious juvenile offenders. An examination of the juvenile waiver cases in Belgium that resulted in convictions in adult courts found that the juveniles did not receive more severe sentences than were possible in juvenile courts. The authors suggest that Belgium's current juvenile justice system should be reformed to allow for the appropriate processing, sentencing, and possible long-term incarceration of serious juvenile offenders. 5 tables, 16 notes, and 38 references