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Equality of Justice and Case Disposition Practice - Report of a Study of Case Disposition Policy in the Jurisdiction of the Hague

NCJ Number
87294
Author(s)
F W M vanStraelen; J J M vanDijk
Date Published
1981
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This study reports on the policies and practices by which prosecutorial decisions to drop charges are made in the jurisdiction of the Hague, Netherlands.
Abstract
The study was prompted by discrepancies ascertained in case disposition decisions among city districts and even among the decisions of individual prosecutors. Its purpose was to contribute to the development of guidelines for case disposition decisionmaking. The study compared four districts (arrondissements) of the Hague regarding the percentage of charges dropped in cases of petty theft, simple assault, grand larceny, and destruction of property. A total of 2,297 1974 case records were reviewed in search of offense and offender characteristics as decision criteria for either dropping charges or following through with prosecution. Results indicate that offense and offender characteristics derived from statistical analysis of case records can explain very few of the variations in disposition decisions, i.e., that there is a significant discretionary element present at this decisionmaking point. At the same time, the statistical classifications suggest the possibility of formulating some guidelines to achieve greater uniformity of disposition decisions. Charts and tabular data are given.