Mixed system: Belgium. Who is in charge? Conditional release in Belgium as a complex bifurcation practice

Decisions to release prisoners are a highly sensitive and often debated issue in Belgium. The early release system has undergone some fundamental changes over the last two decades. Since February 2007, independent multidisciplinary sentence implementation courts decide on the detention trajectory of offenders sentenced to more than three years of imprisonment. However, the minister of Justice still has the authority to decide on most other release modalities. In this chapter, we describe the characteristics of this ‘mixed’ Belgian parole system. This description is supplemented by results of an ethnographic research into the decisionmaking processes and practices of the Belgian sentence implementation courts.

ISBN:9789462401976

Jaar van publicatie:2015

Trefwoorden:Conditional release, Discretion, Belgium

Toegankelijkheid:Open