The role of the victim advocate in the Dutch criminal process

Today the Amsterdam District Court (Criminal Chamber) handed down its verdict in the "Climbing Wall" case. In this sad case, a boy fell 14 meters down during a children's party because it turned out he was not properly secured. This became fatal to him. Arlette Schijns, Irene Timmermans and Nicole Hoogenboom assisted the relatives in the criminal case in which the legal entity and two directors were prosecuted for culpable homicide. The Amsterdam court reached a conviction of all three defendants as supervision was inadequate and essential precautions were lacking. Leaving securing while climbing to an inexperienced parent, while the supervisors were busy baking pancakes, among other things, was irresponsible. A painful conclusion, now that the death could have been prevented. For parents, the claims for compensation of affection damage as well as shock damage were granted, both with respect to the damages and (part of) the costs incurred and lost income. The judgment is satisfactory, but is only a very small plaster for an immense wound. For more information about the ruling For the NOS report

Mopeds like Biròs should not be allowed on the bike path, but should be on the carriageway: for a bike path they are too big, too fast and too heavy with a greater risk of serious accidents. Mildred Brun assists the parents of 12-year-old Saar who died in a collision on the bike path with a Birò. They share their story in the Parool, because they still see on a daily basis that there are mopeds like Biròs driving on the cycle path in question and there is no enforcement. With the article, they want to create awareness among moped drivers and ensure that enforcement is done by the police and municipality. With the goal that what happened to Saar will never happen again.