Resource: Problem-Solving Criminal Justice and the Ideal of Responsive Courts

The United States is achieving good results with the so-called problem solving courts. In the best-known variant, the 'drug court', judges are explicitly concerned with solving the social problem of drug-related crime and thereby give substance to the ideal of 'responsive law'. In her dissertation, Suzan Verberk explores the possibilities of using this system in the Netherlands as well. In her dissertation, Verberk reports on the functioning of drug courts in the US. She investigated this alternative interpretation of criminal law on the basis of the concept of 'responsive law'. In responsive case law, the criterion is not so much procedural legality but material justice. Drug courts give substance to this because drug addicts follow a counseling process under the supervision of the judge. What is also special about drug courts is that the court cooperates intensively and in a team with chain partners and assistance. This new method appears to work: problem-solving criminal law leads to a decrease in recidivism and is cost-effective. This does not alter the fact that there are also more critical comments to be made, particularly with regard to safeguarding the procedural rights of participants in a drug court. Drug-related crime also constitutes a burden on the criminal justice system in the Netherlands. There appear to be starting points for problem-solving criminal law, among others in the active juvenile court and in the importance that the Dutch criminal court attaches to treatment and re-socialization as part of the ISD measure. Verberk concludes with a scenario for drug courts in the Netherlands in 2020.