On 10 March 2023, John Vervaele retired as professor of Economic and European criminal law at Utrecht University. On the occasion of that farewell, this liber amicorum was presented to him. It comprises 85 contributions, written in a variety of languages by friends, colleagues and former colleagues from all over the world.

In keeping with the tradition of the Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, the contributions are arranged around the following themes, which have also be...

Prison officers have been described as key determinants of the prison experience for prisoners, yet up until recently this occupational group was largely ignored in academic research. Although society often sees prison officers simply as ‘keepers of the keys’, the existing research has shown the job to be much more complex.

In this book, the author explores an element of the prison officer’s job that is still understudied: the existence of ethical dilemmas. In doing so, this book highli...

AI systems have the capacity to act in a way that can generally be considered as ‘criminal’ by society. Yet, it can be argued that they lack (criminal) agency – and the feeling of it. In the future, however, humans might develop expectations of norm-conforming behavior from machines. Criminal law might not be the right answer for AI-related harm, even though holding AI systems directly liable could be useful – to a certain extent. This book explores the issue of criminal responsibilit...

Restorative justice is a way of doing justice in which the focus is on restoring the damage caused by a crime. This involves not only restoring mate rial and immaterial damage, but also restoring relational and moral damage. This is best achieved through processes that enable all stakeholders to engage in a dialogue and reach agreements on restora tion. This could include victim-offender-mediation as well as conference models that also involve the community.

In his inaugural address, Jacques ...

The Good Lives Model is an upcoming theoretical rehabilitation framework that is used increasingly in juvenile offender rehabilitation. This book provides in-depth knowledge about the Good Lives Model, its underlying theories, and how it differs from traditional rehabilitation methods. Furthermore it helps to gain a better understanding of the underlying causes of criminal behavior in juveniles, and the challenges they face in reintegrating into society. It combines state-of-the art theoretic...

Emotions such as guilt and shame motivate us to keep our actions in line with normative expectations and are therefore essential in regulating our social and moral lives. Guilt, Shame and Juvenile Delinquency provides a compelling argument for the importance of considering guilt and shame as part of the etiological underpinnings of juvenile delinquency. It presents a comprehensive review of the criminological literature on the relationship between shame, guilt and offending, and it integrates...

Belgium has one of the highest numbers of Jihadist fighters per capita in Europe. A large group of often young men and women left Belgium for the IS Caliphate in Syria and Iraq. This book focuses on the law governing this situation, with its aim being twofold. First, it provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of the legal framework. Second, it provides suggestions on how to improve the framework, both with a view to effectiveness and with respect for fundamental rights and principles.

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Minors can be involved in judicial proceedings of a different Member State when they have – allegedly – committed an offence within the EU. Whereas the EU has developed instruments to facilitate cooperation between Member States in criminal matters, no specific instruments exist to deal with cross-border youth justice cases. This book assesses to what extent it is possible and feasible to develop EU cooperation in youth justice matters.

In EU youth justice: The personal scope of EU crimin...

The European Union is today a major player in many policy areas, going from classic economic fields as competition policy, agriculture and fisheries policy to new emergent fields as environmental policy, arterial intelligence policy, security and foreign policy and criminal justice policy. These policies comes with an increasing level of EU regulation, having also a substantive impact on the harmonization of national policies and regulations. This expansion of EU competence naturally also pl...

All over the world, governments impose punishments on their citizens for transgressions of the criminal law. Consensus exists that this sanctioning should be in accordance with the principle of legality and the rule of law. However, governments around the world struggle with providing foreseeability and non-arbitrariness in their sentencing systems. This continuous struggle raises the question how - and to what extent - foreseeability and non-arbitrariness must be guaranteed. Not only in rela...