The forecasts project the number of offenders that will be given a particular sentence for each of the years included in the forecasts. The sanctions considered include compulsory services to the community or to victims (extramural) as well as imprisonment or compulsory psychiatric treatment (intramural). Extramural sanctions for juveniles in the case of minor crimes can be handled by the police (so-called Halt-settlements); in more serious cases, the courts become involved and can impose community service, a compulsory task to be completed by the juvenile (so-called task sanction). Adults may also be given this type of sanction. Intramural sanctions for juveniles involve placement in judicial homes for juveniles. These placements can be given under penal or civil law. Intramural sanctions for adults are implemented in prisons or in homes for compulsory psychiatric treatment. A special group in prisons consists of illegal immigrants who are kept in custody awaiting their expulsion from the country. The forecast methodology relates the trends in capacity needed for prisons and task sanctions for adults to trends in crime and law enforcement activities. Trends in crime are in turn related to demographic and socioeconomic factors as well as law enforcement performance indicators. The forecasts project increases in all types of sanctions, with the number of juveniles under sanctions increasing faster than those for adults. Compared to the 1999 forecasts of growth of capacity, the anticipated growth is higher for task sanctions for juveniles and less for Halt settlements, prisons, and institutions for compulsory psychiatric treatment. Possible forecast errors are discussed. 28 references, 12 tables, and 21 figures