Child Pornography - Home | National Rapporteur on Trafficking in ...

Implementation
tions use registration systems for the implementation of their tasks in the phases described above. Police
records containing information about the offenders that come from the police are useful when carrying
out criminal investigations, and the probation and after-care services consult various registration
systems for their own risk assessment purposes. 639 Furthermore, registrations are used for prohibition
and notification. 640 The intention of prohibition is that the freedom (of movement) of the convicted
sex offender is restricted, for example, preventing his/her involvement in certain professions (see §3.5.3
and §3.6.2). A Certificate of Good Conduct is also obligatory for some positions, see §3.2.2, primarily for
professions that involve regular contact with children, and particularly those professions which involve a
dependency relationship. 641 The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science has stipulated, for example,
that a primary school teacher, a childminder and those who provide supervision between school hours,
must submit a Certificate of Good Conduct. 642 No statutory obligations apply to many other sectors. It
may, however, be agreed that a Certificate of Good Conduct must be requested, and some organisations
do this of their own accord. 643 In order to be able to assess whether an individual has come into contact
with the criminal justice system, the Central Agency for Certificates of Good Conduct [Centraal Orgaan
Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag] (COVOG) makes use of various registers. The only documents used for this
purpose are Dutch judicial documents, such as the Criminal Records System [Justitieel Documentatie Systeem]
(JDS), police data and information from the Public Prosecution Service and the probation and after-care
services. 644 The intention is that in the future, it will be possible to retrieve judicial information from European
Member States, so as to prevent individuals who have been convicted for a sexual abuse offence
elsewhere in Europe from being able to work with children again, for example in the Netherlands. 645
At the same time, registrations can be used to notify individuals and institutions. Since 1 January 2005,
certain groups of victims and/or relatives have had the opportunity to be kept informed of progress in
639 Van Montfoort consultancy firm & the Dutch Probation Service, 2004:16. For example an extract from
the Central Judicial Documentation Register [Centraal Justiteel Documentatieregister, CJD] and data from the
Client Monitoring System [Cliënt Volg Systeem, CVS] (the system used by probation and after-care services)
and/or Implementation programmes for preventive detention and other orders and sentences [Tenuitvoerleggingprogramma
preventieve hechtenis en overige maatregelen en straffen, TULP] (the system used by the
prison system)
640 Van Marle & Mulder, 2007: p.351.
641 Parliamentary Papers II 2008/09, 31808, no.3, pp.5-6.
642 See ‘Wat is een Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag (VOG) en wanneer heb ik een VOG nodig?’ [What is a Certificate of
Good Conduct and why do I need a Certificate of Good Conduct?], Rijksoverheid [Central government],
www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/verklaring-omtrent-het-gedrag/vraag-en-antwoord/wat-is-eenver
klaring-omtrent-het-gedrag-vog-en-wanneer-heb-ik-een-vog-nodig.html (viewed 17 August 2011).
643 Parliamentary Papers II 2008/09, 31808, no.3, pp.5-6.
644 See ‘Onderzoek naar strafbaar gedrag’ [Research into behaviour that constitutes a criminal offence], Rijksoverheid
[Central government] www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/verklaring-omtrent-het-gedrag/
onderzoek-naar-strafbaar-gedrag (viewed 17 August 2010).
645 On 29 June 2011, the Member States of the European Union reached agreement about the text of the EU
Directive on combating sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. Efforts
have been made from the Netherlands in order to make it possible, by means of this Directive, that data
exchange about sexual offences in other countries takes place as a matter of course. ‘Ontwikkelingen VOG’
[Developments regarding Certificates of Good Conduct], press release from the Ministry of Security and
Justice, 21 July 2011. The Directive is not yet in force, see §1.3.
233