Does a suspect not have a job, have practical training or have a low income and/or do not own a home? Then there is a good chance that this person will be treated differently in Dutch criminal law than someone with a more privileged background. Suspects with a low socio-economic position receive higher sentences on average than people with a more privileged background. This is evident from a new study into ‘class justice’, unequal treatment based on a person’s background characteristics. It report about this, from the Scientific Research and Data Center (WODC), was published on Tuesday.
Suspects with a favorable socio-economic position are less likely to receive a prison sentence and are more likely to receive a fine, the WODC analysis shows. According to the report, suspects with the weakest social position are sentenced to an additional 18 days of unconditional imprisonment, 36 hours of additional community service or an additional 900 euros in fines compared to suspects with the most check marks.
The reason for the investigation was a 2018 motion by then MP Michiel van Nispen (SP). He set at the time de Volkskrant that there is a “major contrast” in how welfare fraud is tackled compared to large-scale money laundering – the Public Prosecution Service refuted this.
2,541,611 criminal cases
The WODC researchers also draw from research Investico, The Green Amsterdammer and NOS Op 3 from 2024 on. It showed that poorly educated suspects with a migration background are almost three times as likely to receive a prison sentence for the same offense as someone without a migration background who has completed a higher vocational or university education.
In turn, the WODC researchers studied 2,541,611 criminal cases of offenses committed between 2006 and 2022. These cases involved 1,197,791 suspects. They defined socio-economic position on the basis of education level, status on the labor market, income and living situation.
Migration background plays a smaller role in adult suspects than socio-economic characteristics, the researchers say. “Suspects with a second-generation migration background do, on average, have a higher chance of being tried by a judge and receiving heavier sentences, even when their socio-economic position is taken into account.”
In their conclusion, the researchers warn that if “structurally heavier and more visible sentences are imposed on suspects with a less favorable starting position”, this could contribute to stigmatization of this group. “Confidence in the rule of law and the sense of justice” of this group may also be affected.
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