Toezicht op de OM-strafbeschikking

In 2008, the Dutch public prosecutor was granted the authority to issue a penalty order (OM-strafbeschikking) for misdemeanours and crimes with a maximum imprisonment of six years in accordance with their statutory description. When a penalty order is issued, the defendant's guilt is established and a sanction is imposed without judicial intervention. This represents a far-reaching power. It prompts the question of whether sufficient supervision exists for the issuance of such penalty orders.In this book, the author walks through the most important forms of supervision of the Public Prosecution Service's penalty order. These include internal supervision within the Public Prosecution Service, supervision by the judiciary, supervision by the Procurator General at the Supreme Court, and supervision by the National Ombudsman. The analysis demonstrates the extent to which these forms of supervision contribute to the three main functions of supervising the penalty order: safeguarding its careful application, supporting its development, and strengthening societal legitimacy. The book compares the supervision of the Public Prosecution Service's penalty order  with the supervision of other forms of out-of-court settlement, and with the supervision of the ‘legal quality’ of judicial decisions of first instance courts.