The Reporting Procedure for Police Officers who have Used Serious Force Under Dutch Law and the Privilege Against Forced Self-incrimination

Recently the controversy about the police use of force has increased within The Netherlands. Simultaneously it has become clear that courts have provided divergent judgments in these cases; some have sentenced and others have acquitted police officers. Whereas victims of the police use of force incr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Criminal law forum 2016-12, Vol.27 (4), p.495-527
Main Authors: Groenhuijsen, Marc, Jansen, René
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative Law
Controversy
Courts
Criminal law
Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law
Incrimination
International & Foreign Law
International Economics
Judgments
Law
Law and Criminology
Law enforcement
Police
Police brutality
Police officers
Private International Law
Privilege
Prosecution
Public International Law
Self incrimination
Selfincrimination
Victims
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recently the controversy about the police use of force has increased within The Netherlands. Simultaneously it has become clear that courts have provided divergent judgments in these cases; some have sentenced and others have acquitted police officers. Whereas victims of the police use of force increasingly ask for the prosecution of these officials, others demand to change the reporting procedure in favor of the officer’s legal position. This research explains how the reporting procedure for these cases is construed under Dutch law – particularly regarding the serious use of force – seeing that such a contribution currently lacks in (inter)national legal literature. Besides, it examines to what extent the abovementioned procedure violates the officer’s right against forced self-incrimination under the ECHR. This research concludes, in absence of a court ruling, that the procedure is incompatible with the ECHR when the evidence that follows from the officers’ duty to notify is admissible in criminal procedures.
ISSN:1046-8374
1572-9850
DOI:10.1007/s10609-016-9287-2