SOME BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DUTCH AND GERMAN LAW ARE BRIEFLY EXPLAINED IN AN INTRODUCTORY SECTION. AN OVERVIEW OF CRIME TRENDS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS SHOWS THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REPORTED CRIMES HAS GROWN TREMENDOUSLY. REPORTED FELONIES HAVE RISEN STEADILY AND HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED BETWEEN 1967 AND 1976. PROPERTY CRIMES ACCOUNT FOR MOST OF THIS INCREASE; THESE HAVE NEARLY TRIPLED IN THE LAST 10 YEARS AND IN 1976 CONSTITUTED MORE THAN 76 PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY'S TOTAL FELONIES. DURING THIS PERIOD, THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE OF 100 PERCENT IN VIOLENT CRIMES AND OF 70 PERCENT IN SERIOUS TRAFFIC OFFENSES, WHILE SEX OFFENSES DECREASED BY MORE THAN 20 PERCENT. THE NUMBER OF UNREPORTED CRIMES IS LARGELY UNKNOWN; HOWEVER, THE DUTCH SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER HAS CONDUCTED VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS EVERY YEAR SINCE 1973. THESE HAVE SHOWN A CONSTANT INCREASE IN FIVE OF THE NINE CRIMES CONSIDERED FROM 1973 TO 1976, WITH A VERY LARGE INCREASE FROM 1975 TO 1976. BICYCLE AND AUTOMOBILE THEFT ARE TWO OF THE FASTEST GROWING CRIMES. STATISTICS ALSO SHOW A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN JUVENILE CRIME. DESPITE THIS INCREASE IN CRIME, THE POLICE CLEARANCE RATE HAS STEADILY DECLINED IN RECENT YEARS. THE CLEARANCE RATE IN 1976 FOR SIMPLE THEFT (WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR 43.2 PERCENT OF TOTAL CRIMES) WAS ONLY 9 PERCENT. STATISTICS ARE PRESENTED WHICH BRIEFLY ILLUSTRATE THE ACTIVITIES OF 'DISTRICT' AND 'COUNTY' COURTS, THEIR CASELOADS, AND DISPOSITIONS OF CASES. IN ADMINISTERING CRIMINAL SANCTIONS, DUTCH JUDGES HAVE MADE INCREASING USE OF SUSPENDED SENTENCES AND OFTEN COMBINE A PARTIAL SENTENCE WITH A FINE. LENGTH OF IMPRISONMENT IS GENERALLY SHORT; NEARLY 85 PERCENT OF ALL SENTENCES ARE LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, AND ONLY 0.4 PERCENT ARE LONGER THAN 3 YEARS. LIFE SENTENCES ARE RARELY GIVEN. FINES, TOO, HAVE TENDED TO BE RATHER LIGHT. AS A RESULT OF THESE SENTENCING PRACTICES, THE COUNTRY'S PRISON POPULATION HAS DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. IN 1971, THE NETHERLANDS HAD THE LOWEST NUMBER OF PERSONS (PER 100,000 POPULATION) IN PRISON OF ALL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THE STATISTICS REGARDING CRIME RATE AND APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS SHOW THAT THE CRIME PROBLEM IS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF OTHER WESTERN NATIONS; HOWEVER, THE CRIMINAL STRUCTURE AND THE TYPE AND SEVERITY OF THE TREATMENT OF OFFENDERS ARE UNIQUE. A CRIMINAL IN THE NETHERLANDS IS LESS LIKELY TO BE PUNISHED. BECAUSE OF THE LIGHTER SANCTIONS, MOST DEFENDANTS BROUGHT TO TRIAL READILY ADMIT THEIR GUILT, AND THE JUDICIAL PROCESS IS SHORT. SOME REASONS WHY THIS APPROACH TO PUNISHMENT IS IMPRACTICAL IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY ARE OUTLINED. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED THROUGHOUT. --IN GERMAN. (VDA)