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Implementation
necessary from a preventive point of view. 513 In this context, the State Secretary for Security and Justice
has indicated the need to investigate whether it would be possible to extend the current supervision
to life-long supervision following the completion of treatment under placement under a hospital
order. 514,515
In Germany, a similar regulation is already established in the law. Although it is a general rule that
supervision can take place for a minimum of two and a maximum of five years, 516 it appears that
the possibility has been created for the court to provide supervision for an unlimited time if the
convicted perpetrator has committed a certain sexual offence, such as the sexual abuse of children
517 . The purpose of the law seems to be that this unlimited period of supervision can only be
imposed by the court if the convicted perpetrator has been sentenced to a custodial sentence for
a minimum of two years or has been placed in a psychiatric hospital or is being treated for addiction.
Furthermore, concrete facts or indications must exist to suggest that without supervision,
the convicted perpetrator would represent a threat to society because he (or she) could be able to
513 Van Marle & Mulder, 2007.
514 A legislative amendment is currently being prepared in order to make it possible to provide life-long
supervision following intramural treatment of those placed under a hospital order who have committed
a sexual offence. The government has stated that research into permanent supervision of sex
offenders who have concluded treatment under placement under a hospital order should be carried
out. In order to be able to arrive at a responsible implementation of this life-long supervision, it is
necessary to gain greater insight into the target group of sex offenders for whom this order is intended,
and into the possibilities for the implementation of this supervision. For the purpose of the intended
legislative amendment, the Directie Sanctie- en Preventiebeleid (DSP) [Directorate for Sanctioning and Prevention
Policy] and the Directie Wetgeving (DW) [Directorate for Legislation] have asked the Scientific
Research and Documentation Centre to provide an overview of various legal frameworks for life-long
supervision such as those that have been designed in a number of other countries. Besides this, it is
important to gain insight into the scope and background characteristics of the group of sex offenders
who were placed under a hospital order who were (recently) released into society. In order to be able
to arrive at an effective implementation of the supervision, it is relevant to examine the methods of
supervision and after-care that could be employed for the implementation of life-long supervision.
www.wodc.nl/onderzoeksdatabase/permanent-toezicht-op-zedendelinquenten.aspx (viewed 7 September
2011)
515 See also: press release ‘TBS-ers met zedenverleden levenslang onder toezicht’ [Those placed under a hospital
order with a history of sexual abuse under life-long supervision], Ministry of Security and Justice, 4
February 2011. The legislative amendment elaborates on the research into the permanent supervision
of sex offenders already announced in the coalition agreement. The research will focus on the way in
which supervision must be implemented and the categories of sex offenders to which the measure
should apply: www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/ persberichten/2011/02/04/tbs-ersmet-zedenverleden-levenslang-onder-toezicht.html
(viewed 22 June 2011). The information from this
website seems to suggest a somewhat broader approach than the description of the research by the
Scientific Research and Documentation Centre.
516 Article 68c, paragraph 1 of the Strafgesetzbuch [German Criminal Code].
517 All sexual offences for which supervision for an unlimited time applies are reported in Articles 174-174c,
176-180, 181a and 182 of the Strafgesetzbuch.
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