Maastricht Institute for Criminal Sciences

The administrative approach to organised crime has redefined local governance in the Netherlands, where mayors wield powerful tools to disrupt illicit networks. As Germany begins to experiment with similar strategies, comparative insights become essential.

The 1st of April 2024 marks the day when Germany adopted the most progressive legal approach to cannabis in Europe. While for the Dutch, this may sound like an April’s fool prank, it is far from it: The new German CanG (Cannabis Law) regulates the consumption, possession, and supply of the soft drug more consistently than the world-famous Dutch tolerance policy with its unique coffee shops ever did. But the road towards the regulation was rocky, full of aberrations and disappointments.

On February 22, it's the 'European Day of the Victim'. On this day, various organizations at home and abroad pay attention to victims of criminal offenses. For example, Victim Support Europe organizes a symposium in Brussels titled 'Leave No Victim Behind: Victims' Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals'. This event is a good example of how victim organizations gratefully make use of international and supranational instruments - in this case, the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations - which aim (partly) to improve the position of victims.

Germany has elected a new government. One of the legal reforms coalition of Social democrats, the Green party and the free liberals want to put on the tracks is the legalization of cannabis. From a criminological point of view, this is the right decision.

On the 9^th of February, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that forcing suspects to provide access to their smartphone with a fingerprint is not a breach of the privilege against self-incrimination. The case originated from an ex officio appeal ‘in the interest of the law’ in a case of the Court of North Holland. Appeals ‘in the interest of the law’ are introduced by the Prosecutor-General to encourage the Supreme Court to provide clarification of important legal principles.