The story behind the empty prisons of the Netherlands – DW – 20/10/2024

The US, China, Turkey and Brazil are just some of the countries that are putting more and more people behind bars. But in the Netherlands it is a different story. Some empty prisons there have now been repurposed as hotels or cultural centers.

But what is the reason for the country’s declining prison population? And is this really the success story it seems? DW took a closer look at some studies and statistics.

Beating the global trend

A study conducted by the universities of Leiden (Netherlands) and Portsmouth (UK) found that the number of people in prison in the Netherlands fell from 94 per 100,000 inhabitants to 51 per 100,000 between 2005 and 2016.

Although the downward trend has not continued since then, Eurostat figures show suggest that the number of prisoners has stabilized at this low level. In 2021 and 2022 this was 54 per 100,000.

This makes the Netherlands one of the few countries where the prison population has decreased. Data platform World Prison Brief (WPB) has identified a similar trend in Germany, Liechtenstein, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and the Baltic States.

Only one country has seen its incarceration rate fall more dramatically than the Netherlands, and that is Russia, where WPB statistics indicate a 59% drop since 2000. But the reason for this appears to be military: many prisoners have been released to serve as prison staff. soldiers in the war against Ukraine.

Elsewhere in the world, however, the general trend is an ever-growing prison population, with numbers exploding in many countries. Since 2000, the number of prisoners has increased by 224% in South America, 141% in Asia and 84% in Oceania.

Why are the numbers so low?

There are a number of different aspects to take into account when examining the decline in the number of prisoners in the Netherlands, including sentencing policies in the courts, the overall crime rate, the work of the judicial authorities, the costs of incarceration and rehabilitation, and the general legal situation.

The number of people who receive a custodial sentence from the judge has fallen significantly in the Netherlands. In 2005, Dutch courts imposed prison sentences on approximately 8,305 convicted criminals. Ten years later, only 4,540 offenders were sent to prison. Research shows that the decline in the number of custodial sentences occurred across the entire spectrum of criminal activities.

For property crimes, the number of prison sentences fell by 44%, for violent crimes and sexual crimes the number of prison sentences fell by 39%, and for drug-related crimes the decrease was as much as 49%. The number of people sent to prison for failing to pay a court-imposed fine fell by 38%.

The Netherlands also has an unusually low average prison sentence. The criminologists from Leiden University found in their research that half of all people who went to prison there were released within a month.

In contrast, a report from the University of Lausanne shows Looking at the number of prisoners among the 46 members of the European Council, only 5.2% of prisoners spend less than six months in prison, and around 21.3% serve between 12 months and three years.

Lower pre-trial detention rates and declining crime rates

Another important factor in the Netherlands is the decrease in the number of people in pre-trial detention. The research shows that in 2005, 21,029 people were in pre-trial detention in Dutch prisons, while in 2016 that number fell to 13,350 – a drop of 37%.

In the same period – 2005 to 2016 – the number of registered crimes in the Netherlands fell from 1.35 million to 930,000. Property crimes fell by 216,000 (-27%) and there were 32,000 fewer violent crimes (-26%).

But the biggest declines were recorded in vandalism and public order offenses (-50%) and drug-related crimes (-31%).

The crime rate reached a record low in 2018, with 770,000 crimes recorded. That figure has since risen again, but only slightly, reaching 798,000 in 2022.

More options for prosecutors

Since 2006, public prosecutors in the Netherlands have been able to handle some cases without the intervention of a judge and even impose non-custodial sentences, such as fines or community service. It is a change introduced to speed up the judicial process and reduce the workload for judges.

The reform meant that fewer cases ended up in court, where suspects faced a possible prison sentence. This in turn has contributed to the overall decline in prisoner numbers.

Longer studies

Research by criminologists Judith van Valkenhoef and Edward van der Torre, published in 2017, raised doubts about the extent to which these statistics represent a success story for the Dutch legal system. Their research points to other issues, such as inefficient police investigations and the inability of prosecutors to bring criminals to justice.

They argue that the Netherlands has become an important center for the synthetic drugs market and will likely remain so without political action.

According to Professor Francis Pakes of the University of Portsmouth, co-author of the above report, the statistics do not tell the whole story, and the overall decline in prison numbers is not just a result of fewer crimes being committed. The research shows that other factors also play a role, such as fewer cases being prosecuted or even investigated. As evidence for this development, he cites the growing influence of the drug mafia in the Netherlands.

This article was originally published in German.