"Dutch justice? Falling crime rates and prison closures
The closure of five prisons in as many years against the background of a falling crime rate, is the kind of news many governments would give their eye teeth for. But not everyone in the Netherlands is happy, as Gordon Darroch reports. The Dutch cabinet has faced awkward questions since justice minister Ard van der Steur told parliament in March that the rapid decline of the prison population has left around one-third of cells empty. Unions accused him of breaking a promise made by his predecessor, Fred Teeven, that no more jails would shut before the election in March 2017.


Read more at DutchNews.nl: Dutch justice? Falling crime rates and prison closures www.dutchnews.nl/features/2016/10/falling-crime-rates-and-prison-closures-what-is-really-going-on-in-the-dutch-justice-system/"