PhD Defense Rozemarijn van Spaendonck

Rozemarijn van Spaendonck, affiliated with the Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice, will defend her PhD thesis at Utrecht University on February 5, 2021. It is entitled: More than a matter of time: the extension of the tbs-order.

In the Netherlands, the criminal court can impose the tbs-order on dangerous offenders with mental disorders. The offender is subsequently committed to a forensic mental health facility, which aims to offer treatment to the offender and protect society from the offender until the recidivism risk is successfully reduced. Every one or two years, the court decides whether the tbs-order should be extended.

This study shows that judges rely heavily on the information from forensic mental health experts to make this decision. They want to be convinced that the offender will not reoffend if he is released. That is why judges thoroughly examine whether enough time is invested in the treatment and rehabilitation of the offender. However, the problem is that no one knows for sure whether the offender will reoffend after release.

This raises the question among judges whether the prisoner should be given the benefit of the doubt at some point. The tbs-order is not designed to punish offenders by long-term incapacitation. Therefore, judges safeguard the offender’s prospect to regain his freedom in the future. The longer the tbs-order lasts, the more critical judges become about the extension of the tbs-order provided that the offender has not obstructed the execution of the tbs-order.

This study shows that although judges have an eye for the interests of the offender, the protection of society outweighs those interests in the end.