The Principle of Open Justice in the Netherlands

Abstract

The principle of open justice (in Dutch Openbaarheidsbeginsel) is one of the fundamental pillars on which the Dutch criminal justice system rests. In all democratic Western countries, it is a well-established principle that courts should generally be open to anyone who wishes to attend. This is extremely important in the Dutch inquisitorial system, in which the layelement has almost totally disappeared. The Netherlands system does not make use of juries, and lay judges are, with a few exceptions, not sitting in criminal cases. Judges are not elected, as is the case in some adversarial systems, but they are appointed by the government. Dutch judges are independent and cannot be discharged because of the sentences they impose. Direct public influence on the appointment of the members of the judiciary is absent. This lack of direct democratic accountability has been complemented by providing the opportunity to the public to be able to review the adjudication of cases by the judiciary, at trial or through the news-media. In order to bridge the gap between the adjudicators and the general public, courts should be open to anyone who wishes to attend.