The public believes more in repressive measures than in prophylactic measures to reduce criminality, and the current Belgium penal system is based on imprisonment. Prosecuting magistrates are empowered to order subsidiary imprisonment, conditional freedom, or probation as alternatives to incarceration, but they frequently view these options negatively and fail to realize that they may be a criminal's right. Efforts should be made to humanize and personalize the criminal system. The same magistrate responsible for imposing a sentence should be authorized to make all further court dispositions for a convicted criminal. All possible steps should be taken to assure the coherence of prosecuting magistrates' prison policy and to clarify the conditions appropriate for allowing subsidiary imprisonment or conditional freedom. The preliminary inquest reveals to the presiding judge the personality, environmental conditions, and rehabilitative potential of the accused, and all of this information should be reviewed when probation is being considered. Footnotes are provided.