Principle of opportunity

Principle of opportunity

The principle of opportunity is a principle in Dutch law, which says that a crime will be punished only if its prosecution is considered opportune. This means that public prosecutors have the arbitrary decision power to cancel the prosecution of a crime. Cancelling the prosecution of a crime is called a sepot or seponering (in Dutch). Cancelling the prosecution of a crime is mentioned in the First Book, First Title, Fourth Section of the Dutch Criminal Procedure Code (Art. 12, 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f, 12g, 12h, 12i, 12j, 12k, 12l, 12m, 12n, 12o, 12p, 13 and 13a).[1]

In countries (not the Netherlands) where the principle of opportunity does not apply, if those entitled to prosecute a felony cancel the prosecution of a known felony, they commit themselves a felony (this is called the principle of legality).[2] [2]

There are three sorts of cancellation of prosecution:

  • policy sepot: petty crimes are not punished in order to be able to prosecute serious crimes;
  • technical sepot: there is not enough evidence to obtain a conviction from a court or such a conviction is highly unlikely;
  • conditional sepot: the crime suspect is spared from being prosecuted provided that the suspect commits no other crimes. In Belgium this is called a praetorian probation.

If the prosecution of a crime is cancelled, it can still be resumed later (the ne bis in idem principle does not apply to sepots),[3] except if the Public Department has made a formal communication to the crime suspect that the suspect is no longer prosecuted (then prosecution cannot be resumed according to administrative law trustworthiness principle).

According to Article 12 of the Dutch Criminal Procedure Code,[1] a person with a direct concern in the prosecution of a crime may fill at a court of law a complaint against the cancellation of the prosecution. If the council chamber of the court decides that the crime should be prosecuted, it will have to be prosecuted.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Art. 12, Sv.
  2. ^ a b Some similar provisions are in Belgian law. This also seems to be the case in Estonia. Ploom, Tristan (2000). "Principle of opportunity". Juridica (Estonia) (VI): 369–376. ISSN 1406-1074. http://www.juridica.ee/juridica_en.php?document=en/articles/2000/6/5140.SUM.php. Retrieved 12/6/2009. "One possibility for making the criminal procedure more speedy and effective in Estonia is the application of the principle of opportunity instead of the principle of legality which governs at present. The author also introduces the provisions concerning the principle of opportunity as proposed in the draft Estonian Criminal Procedure Act. Under the draft act, the principle should be applied as an exception rather than a rule" 
  3. ^ The sepot is not a verdict of a judge, in the meaning of the Art. 350, Sv.

See also

Nolle prosequi: the principle of opportunity is a generalized (principalized) form of nolle prosequi.



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • opportunity — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ ample, considerable, plenty of ▪ We ll have plenty of opportunity to talk later. ▪ limited, little, not much ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • opportunity — Synonyms and related words: a leg up, accidentality, actuarial calculation, adventitiousness, bout, break, casualness, chance, clear stage, destiny, fair field, fair game, fate, flukiness, fortuitousness, fortuity, fortune, gamble, go, good… …   Moby Thesaurus

  • Precautionary principle — The precautionary principle is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not… …   Wikipedia

  • Corporate opportunity — The corporate opportunity doctrine is the legal principle providing that directors, officers, and controlling shareholders of a corporation must not take for themselves any business opportunity that could benefit the corporation.[1] The corporate …   Wikipedia

  • Proactionary principle — An ethical principle formulated as part of extropian philosophy, the proactionary principle is formulated by the extropian Max More as follows:People’s freedom to innovate technologically is highly valuable, even critical, to humanity. This… …   Wikipedia

  • Postcautionary principle — The postcautionary principle is a principle of de facto environmental management formulated by Paull (2007) [Paull, John, [http://orgprints.org/11042/ Certified Organic Forests Timber: the Hippocratic Opportunity] , Proceedings ANZSEE Conference… …   Wikipedia

  • corporate opportunity doctrine — corporate op·por·tu·ni·ty doctrine n: a doctrine of corporate law stating that fiduciaries of the corporation (as directors or officers) may not take for themselves a business opportunity offered to the corporation Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of …   Law dictionary

  • Beyond the Pleasure Principle — (first published in German in 1920 as Jenseits des Lustprinzips ) is an essay by Sigmund Freud. It marked a turning point and a major modification of his previous theoretical approach. Before this essay, Freud was understood to have placed the… …   Wikipedia

  • equal opportunity — /ikwəl ɒpəˈtjunəti/ (say eekwuhl opuh tyoohnuhtee) noun 1. the situation or principle of providing the same opportunities, as in employment, education, etc., to everyone without regard to gender, ethnic background, age, physical disability, etc.… …  

  • Equal Employment Opportunity — UK US noun [C or U] (ABBREVIATION EEO) HR, LAW, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ► the principle that all people should have the same opportunities when applying for jobs and at work, and should not be treated unfairly because of their sex, race, religion,… …   Financial and business terms

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”