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Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes pp 207–228Cite as

Blundering Justice

The Schiedam Park Murder

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Abstract

The murder of a young girl in 2000 in a park in the Dutch town Schiedam and the attempted murder of her friend resulted in a miscarriage of justice that shook Dutch society. After a description of the case, an attempt is made to analyze the factors that caused this miscarriage of justice and other dubious convictions in The Netherlands. Many factors that have been described in Anglo-Saxon legal systems that contribute to miscarriages of justice apply likewise to the Dutch legal system. Some do not, such as jury decision making and plea bargaining. Some factors are typical for an inquisitorial system as The Netherlands. Notably, the compromising nature of Dutch society that has too much trust in the work of the police and the prosecution contributed to the wrongful conviction in the Schiedam Park Murder. This is a problem because it can be argued that the quality of the police and the prosecution has decreased in recent decades. It is concluded that because of the growing role of the European Court of Human Rights that causes a mixture of accusatorial and inquisitorial elements to be introduced in the legal systems of its member states, comparative research is needed into factors that promote miscarriages of justice in different legal systems.

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  1. Peter J. van Koppen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Forensic Psychologist in Private Practice, Sydney, Australia

    Richard N. Kocsis PhD

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© 2008 Humana Press

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Koppen, P.J.v. (2008). Blundering Justice. In: Kocsis, R.N. (eds) Serial Murder and the Psychology of Violent Crimes. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-049-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-049-6_12

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-685-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-049-6

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