Op 16 september 2022 vond aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen de workshop ‘A conditional release procedure for life prisoners : An international comparative approach’, plaats. De bijeenkomst, die onder leiding stond van Prof. Sonja Meijer, diende als voorbereiding voor het derde Lustrum van het Forum (op 31 maart 2023) dat in het teken zal staan van de (wensen omtrent de) nieuwe Nederlandse herbeoordelingsprocedure.
De volgende vragen zijn tijdens de workshop aan bod gekomen (onderverdeeld in 5 onderwerpen):
1. The conditional release procedure (de iure)
- How is the conditional release procedure given form in law?
- Which procedural requirements are there?
- Which authority or court decides on the conditional release of the life prisoner?
- Is there an advisory body that advices on the release of the life prisoner?
- Is there also a pardon procedure? And how does the conditional release procedure relate to the possibility of pardon?
- Within what timeframe will the release be reassessed if a previous request is rejected?
2. The time of the review
- What is the minimum period before release can be considered?
- Is this a statutory period or is this period set by a judge (in the sentencing phase)?
- Is there a different minimum period for first-offenders and recidivists?
3. The conditions for release
- The review required in order for a life sentence to be reducible should allow the domestic authorities to consider whether, in the course of the sentence, any changes in the life prisoner and progress towards his or her rehabilitation are of such significance that continued detention is no longer justified on legitimate penological grounds. This assessment must be based on rules having a sufficient degree of clarity and certainty and the conditions laid down in domestic legislation must reflect the conditions set out in the Court’s case-law (Murray para 100 with references). A life prisoner is entitled to know from the outset of his sentence what he must do to become eligible for release. What are the substantive criteria for the release of life prisoners?
4. The conditional release procedure (de facto)
- How are life prisoners prepared for their release (during the course of the sentence and at the end of the sentence)?
- At what moment do the preparations for release begin?
- What are practical obstacles in the preparation of life prisoners for release?
- How are the substantive criteria for release applied in practice?
5. The release of life prisoners
- What does the release of life prisoners imply?
- Is the life sentence terminated or converted in a temporary sentence?
- Can the life prisoner be subjected to supervision?
- How many life prisoners have been released the last 40 years?
- Is anything known about the recidivism rate among persons released from life imprisonment?
Hier vindt u de Inleiding (speaking notes, not to quote) van Van Zyl Smit met een overzicht van de jurisprudentie van het EHRM en de PowerPointpresentaties van Christine Morgenstern over Duitsland en van Eric Maes over België .
I.M. de Kruijf, 10 oktober 2022, aangevuld 19 oktober.