The Public Prosecution Service announced in February that it will increasingly utilize penalty orders, meaning that the Public Prosecution Service itself imposes a penalty on individuals who have committed a crime or offense. The aim of the Public Prosecution Service is to tackle more crimes than currently occurs. This way, fewer suspects evade their punishment, and victims also know more quickly where they stand. Additionally, the Public Prosecution Service needs to dismiss fewer cases for minor offenses. The Public Prosecution Service, which has had the legal authority to impose penalties since 2008, aims to address the shortage of capacity in the criminal justice system and impose more penalties for criminal behavior than is currently the case, even for repeat offenders.
Common crimes, such as vandalism and pickpocketing, can cause unrest and a feeling of insecurity in society. Since these are often cases that are relatively easy to prove, the use of special investigative measures is usually unnecessary, and they can be resolved quickly. These offenses account for about 80 percent of the inflow to the Public Prosecution Service.
Since the Public Prosecution Service Act came into force in 2008, the public prosecutor can handle these types of offenses without the intervention of a judge through a penalty order. These are penalties in the form of fines, community service, a driving ban, and behavioral instructions (such as a contact ban). A suspect who disagrees with their penalty can always present their case to a judge.
Property Crimes
The expansion of Public Prosecution Service policy removes a number of contraindications, making it possible to impose a penalty order on illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, and repeat offenders. This creates room to resolve more common property crimes with a Public Prosecution Service penalty order. Of course, more serious property crimes can still be brought before a judge by a public prosecutor, regardless of who committed them. The goal is to punish more property crimes than currently happens and thus take a firmer stance against repeat offenders. The change in this regard aims to ensure that in lighter cases that would not be punished, a penalty can still be imposed.
Target Group Policy
In recent years, the Public Prosecution Service has invested in improving the (rapid) handling of crimes committed by nuisance-causing asylum seekers. This is done by focusing on quick action, so it is quickly clear what sanction is imposed. Think of the use of (super)fast track and immediate enforcement of the sanction.
The tightening of the Public Prosecution Service policy to issue more penalty orders for common property crimes aligns with the policy that has been established to intensify the approach to asylum seekers who commit crimes. The target group policy of the Public Prosecution Service remains intact, in this case covering mobile banditry and other forms of common criminal behavior by asylum seekers. This also applies to repeat offenders. The removal of contraindications ensures that asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, and repeat offenders do not escape punishment in lighter cases but can receive a penalty order.