Conference on Procedural Justice & Legal Practice
In November 2014, several members of the Montaigne Centre for Judicial Administration
and Conflict Resolution published a special issue of the Utrecht Law Review on Procedural
Justice & Legal Practice. Based on this issue, an international expert meeting will be
organised on 10 April 2015 in Utrecht (the Netherlands). A selection of the publications
will be presented by the authors and will be commented by several national and
international discussants.
Central questions that will be discussed are (1) how the concept of procedural justice
could enlarge the insight in the administration of law (conceptual) and (2) what the best
methods are to research this topic (methodological).
Date:
10 April 2015
Location:
District Court of the Mid-Netherlands, Vrouwe Justitiaplein 1, 3511 EX
Utrecht, the Netherlands
Programme
09:30 – 10:00
Registration and coffee & tea
10:00 – 10:05
Welcome and short introduction of the Montaigne Centre for
Judicial Administration and Conflict Resolution
Miranda Boone - Professor in Penitentiary Law and Penology at
Groningen University and Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law and
Criminology at Utrecht University (NL). Research coordinator of the
Montaigne Centre (NL).
10:05 – 10:15
Opening of the Conference on Procedural Justice & Legal Practice
Ton Hol – Head of the Utrecht School of Law and Vice-dean of the
Faculty
of
Law,
Economics
and
Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy (NL)
Governance.
Professor
in
10:15 – 11:00
Keynote Lecture on ‘The Social Value of Fair Process: Psychological
and Policy Perspectives’
E. Allan Lind – James L. Vincent Distinguished Professor of Leadership,
at Duke University (USA)
11:00 – 11:45
Session A: Procedural Justice in Dutch Administrative Court
Proceedings
Authors:
André Verburg – Senior Judge at the District Court of the MidNetherlands and Researcher at the Utrecht School of Law (NL)
Ben Schueler – Professor of Administrative Law, Environmental and
Planning Law at Utrecht University (NL)
Discussant:
Bert Marseille – Professor of Public Administration at Groningen
University and Professor by Special Appointment of the Empirical
Study of Administrative Law at Tilburg University (NL)
11:45 – 12:30
Session B: Towards a More Responsive Judge: Challenges and
Opportunities
Authors:
Machteld W. de Hoon – Coordinating Policy Advisor at the Ministry of
Security and Justice (NL)
Suzan Verberk – Senior Policy Advisor at the Dutch Council for the
Judiciary (NL)
Discussant:
Tania Sourdin – Professor of Law and Dispute Resolution at Monash
University (AUS)
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch
13:30 – 14:15
Session C: Procedural Justice for ‘Weaker Parties’ in Cross-Border
Litigation under the EU Regulatory Scheme
Author:
Vesna Lazić – Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at Utrecht
University and T.M.C. Asser Institute (NL); Professor of the European
Civil Procedure at the University of Rijeka (HRV).
Discussants:
Cristina Mariottini – Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck
Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory
Procedural Law (LUX)
14:15 – 15:00
Session D: Procedural Justice Seen to Be Done: The Judiciary’s Press
Guidelines in the Light of Publicity and Procedural Justice
Author:
Leonie van Lent – Assistant Professor at Utrecht University (NL)
Discussant:
Lieve Gies – Senior Lecturer at the University of Leicester (UK)
15:00 – 15:30
Coffee & tea
15:30 – 16:15
Session E: Neutrality as an Element of Perceived Justice in Prison:
Consistency versus Individualization
Authors:
Miranda Boone – Professor in Penitentiary Law and Penology at
Groningen University and Associate Professor Criminal Law and
Criminology at the Utrecht University (NL).
Mieke Kox – PhD-Student at Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
Discussant:
Gill McIvor – Professor of Criminology at the University of Stirling and
Co-director of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
(SCO)
16:15 – 16:45
Closing remarks
Rick Verschoof – Judge at the District Court of the Mid-Netherlands,
Professor of Administration of Justice at Utrecht University and CoDirector of the Montaigne Centre for Judicial Administration and
Conflict Resolution (NL)
16:45 – 18:30
Cocktail drinks
Prof. dr. Miranda Boone
Function: Professor in Penitentiary Law and Penology at Groningen University
and Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminology at Utrecht University
(NL). Research coordinator of the Montaigne Centre (NL).
BIO: Miranda Boone graduated in 1992 in criminal law and criminology at the VU University in
Amsterdam. Her PhD thesis was on the topic of community sentences and measures and she has
continued publishing on that topic since that time. Other recent research topics include decisionmaking in the criminal sanction system, selectivity in sentencing, criminal records and reintegration,
prison experiences and electronic monitoring. She is co-leader of the COST Action on Offender
Supervision in Europe’s Working Group on Decision-making and Supervision.
Prof. dr. Ton Hol
Function: Head of the Utrecht School of Law and Vice-dean of the
Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. Professor in
Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy (NL)
BIO: Prof. Dr Antoine (Ton) Hol (1954) studied Law and Philosophy
at Nijmegen University, The Netherlands. After his graduation he was appointed as a lecturer at
Leiden University, where he defended his dissertation on the principles of tort law. In 1994 he
became a professor at Utrecht University, where he holds the chair of Jurisprudence and Legal
Philosophy. He established the Montaigne Centre for Adjudication and Conflict Resolution. Since
2014 he has been appointed as Head of the Law School of Utrecht University. As a researcher he is a
member of several international research groups (Cambridge, Paris, Bologna). He is not only
interested in legal theory, but also in legal practice. For instance, he is practicing as a deputy justice
at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, Court of Appeal of ‘s Hertogenbosch, and as a deputy judge at the
court of Noord-Holland. He was/is also involved in several training programs for the judiciary in
foreign countries (e.g. China, Rwanda, Uganda, Czech Republic). His main fields of research concern
legal decision-making, judicial administration, ethics of the legal profession, theories of torts, as well
as legal and political philosophy in general.
Prof. dr. E. Allan Lind
Function: James L. Vincent Distinguished Professor of Leadership, at Duke
University (USA)
BIO: Professor Lind's teaching interests center on leadership and global
management issues. His research interests include leadership, organizational behavior, trust,
organizational fairness judgments, and conflict management, with special emphasis on culture and
effective management practices. In particular, he studies how leaders and managers can enhance
feelings of fair treatment, develop trust and initiative, foster the acceptance of organizational
authority, and resolve disputes and conflicts in organizations. Prior to coming to Duke, he did policy
research on law, counter-terrorism, and military leadership and decision making at the RAND
Corporation in California and at the American Bar Foundation. For five years, he held the Leiden
University Fund Chair Visiting Professorship in Social Conflict and Social Justice at the University of
Leiden in the Netherlands, and for four years he was Visiting Professor of Leadership Studies at the
University of Auckland in New Zealand. He did his doctoral dissertation research in Paris and has
conducted research in France, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands,
China, India, the Philippines and Japan. Professor Lind has published more than 100 research papers
in major scholarly journals around the world. His book on the psychology of fairness in
organizational, political, and social contexts is one of the 30 most cited works in his home discipline
of social psychology. He is a Fellow of the Association of Psychological Sciences and the Society for
Experimental Social Psychology. He received his PhD and MA from the University of North Carolina
and his BA from the University of Florida.
André Verburg
Function: Senior Judge at the District Court of the Mid-Netherlands and
Researcher at the Utrecht School of Law
BIO: André Verburg is a senior judge at the District Court Midden-Nederland and researcher at the
Utrecht School of Law/Montaigne Centre. He is a member of the editorial boards of three
Administrative Law Journals (JBplus, AB and Kennisbank Bestuursrecht) in the Netherlands. Books
and articles by his hand cover Administrative Evidence Law, Final Dispute Resolution, Procedural
Justice and Administrative Procedural Law. He is a trainer and teacher of judges, judicial assistants,
civil servants and solicitors. Before André Verburg worked at the District Court Midden-Nederland,
he was a judge at the District Court 's-Gravenhage, lecturer at SSR, the Dutch training centre for the
judiciary, and a judicial assistant at the Council of State in the Netherlands.
Prof. dr. Ben Schueler
Function: Professor of Administrative Law, Environmental and Planning Law at
Utrecht University
BIO: Prof dr B.J. (Ben) Schueler is Professor of Administrative Law, Environmental and Planning Law
at UtrechtUniversity. He has developed an expertise in the areas of national and European
environmental and planning law, law of administrative procedure and state liabilty. Between 1999
and 2005 he worked as a lawyer in administrative proceedings in a law firm in The Hague. He is a
substitute judge at the district courts of Utrecht and in the Court of Appeal in The Hague.. Since 1985
he has published in academic journals and law reviews on the above issues. He participated in a
number of research projects, including evaluations and impact assessments of statute regulations
and courts decisions. Next to his work in scientific research and education he is frequently invited to
give expert’s opinions on impasses in the decision-making process and legal disputes concerning
urban and environmental planning.
Prof. dr. Bert Marseille
Function: Professor of Public Administration at Groningen University
and Professor by Special Appointment of the Empirical Study of
Administrative Law at Tilburg University.
BIO: Bert Marseille’s research interests concern dispute resolution in administrative law
procedures. He participated in research projects evaluating experiments concerning the objection
procedure against decisions of administrative bodies ('Pro-active Approach Model’) and procedures
at administrative law courts ('New Approach'). Recent publications in this field: A.T. Marseille & I.M.
Boekema, ‘Administrative Decision-Making in Reaction to a Court Judgment. Can the Administrative
Judge Guide the Decision-Making Process?’, ULR Volume 9, Issue 3 (July) 2013, p. 51-61, B. Brink &
A.T. Marseille, 'Participation of Citizens in Pre-Trial Hearings. Review of an Experiment in the
Netherlands', , International Public Administration Review, XII (2−3), 2014, p. 47−61, K.J. de Graaf,
A.T. Marseille & H.D. Tolsma, ‘Mediation in Administrative Proceedings: A Comparative Perspective’,
in: Dacian C. Dragos & Bogdana Neamtu (eds), Alternative Dispute Resolution in European
Administrative Law, Springer 2014, p. 589-605.
Suzan Verberk
Function: The research program coordinator at the Council for the Judiciary
of the Netherlands.
BIO: Dr. Suzan Verberk is working as the research program coordinator at the Council for the
Judiciary of the Netherlands. The research program is inspired by current needs of the judiciary as
well as relevant academic insight and aims to improve the quality of the justice. Before, Verberk
combined her work as a freelance researcher with writing her PhD dissertation on problem-solving
courts (published in 2011). In her work, she focuses on innovation in the justice system and on
judicial conflict resolution. In the past she has been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of
Law and Society of UC Berkeley, worked as project manager at a private research and consultancy
firm, and she started her working life as a researcher in public administration at the Free University.
Prof. dr. Tania Sourdin
Function: Professor of Law and Dispute Resolution at Monash University
BIO: Professor Sourdin has led national research projects and produced
important recommendations for reform. In the past decade, she has
conducted qualitative and quantitative research projects into alternative dispute resolution systems
in 10 Courts and Tribunals and five external dispute resolution schemes. She also has extensive
experience in training and educating mediators, investigators, conciliators, tribunal members, judges,
architects, lawyers and others in relation to communication, mediation, negotiation, collaborative
practice and alternative dispute resolution processes.
Professor Sourdin is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, a part-time judicial
Member of the Commonwealth Administrative Appeals Tribunal and completed a term as a senior
member with the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal in NSW in February 2008. Next to this, she
is also a mediator, active in a range of commercial and workplace matters and has facilitated largescale conflict resolution management projects. She has worked across Australia, New Zealand, Hong
Kong, Canada, the United States, the UK, Italy and the United Arab Emirates. As well, Professor
Sourdin is the author of books, articles and papers, and has published and presented widely on a
range of topics including mediation, conflict resolution, artificial intelligence, technology and
organizational change. The 4th edition of her book – Alternative Dispute Resolution (Thomson
Reuters) – was released in 2012. Her book (ed and contributor) The Multi-Tasking Judge (Thomson
Reuters) was published in 2013. She has current research projects relating to Innovations in Justice
(and is co-chair of the international LSA CRN in this area), Timeliness in Justice, Self-Represented
Litigants, AI and Justice, ADR, complaints handling, the resolution of tax disputes as well as a number
of consultancies and small projects.
Dr. Vesna Lazić
Function: Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at Utrecht University
and T.M.C. Asser Institute and Professor of the European Civil Procedure at
the University of Rijeka.
BIO: Vesna Lazić is Associate Professor on International Commercial Arbitration at the Utrecht
University and a senior researcher in International Commercial Arbitration and Private International
Law at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut. In 2013 she was appointed professor of the European Civil
Procedure International at the University of Rijeka. Dispute settlement, especially international
litigation and commercial arbitration, private international law, insolvency and commercial law are
the fields of her particular interest and expertise.
Dr. Cristina Mariottini
Function: Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg
for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law
BIO: Cristina holds a law degree (summa cum laude) from the Università degli Studi di Milano and a
Ph.D. from the same University, where she defended a dissertation on Breach of Contract and
Damages in Private International Law. Before joining the Institute, Cristina was a visiting research
scholar at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (2009-2012), where in 2011 she also completed
an LL.M. program. In 2011-2012 she partook, as a member of the Center for International Legal
Education (CILE) observer delegation, in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
(UNCITRAL) Working Group III – Online Dispute Resolution for Cross-Border Electronic Commerce
Transactions. As of 2012 Cristina is an Associate Member of the American Society of Comparative
Law, and of 2014 she is a member of the American Branch of the International Law Association. In
2013, she became a member of the editorial board of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e
processuale. Cristina’s main field of research is dispute settlement, and European procedural and
private international law in contractual and non-contractual obligations, as well as in cross-border
successions.
Dr. Leonie van Lent
Function: Assistant Professor at Utrecht University
BIO: Leonie van Lent graduated in criminal law and obtained her PhD at
Utrecht University. Her PhD thesis was on the topic of the principle of
public proceedings in Dutch criminal procedure. Before and after that time she has published about
publicity in criminal procedure and on related topics, such legitimacy of the administration of
criminal justice and the position and involvement of the media in criminal justice. Her research
focuses on the (the implications of the) ECtHR case law on these topics. Other research topics include
the presumption of innocence and the ECtHR case law on principles of procedure. She is editor of
the ECtHR feature in Delikt en Delinkwent.
Dr. Lieve Gies
Function: Senior Lecturer at the University of Leicester
BIO: Lieve Gies was a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Law at Brunel University
(2001/02) and Keele University (2002/11) before joining the Department of Media
and Communication at the University of Leicester where she teaches Media Law
and Law in the Media. Her research is situated at the intersections of law, media and popular culture,
covering topics as diverse as online legal advice, the deviant celebrity, media representations of
human rights law and the communication strategies of courts. She is the author of Law and the
Media: The Future of an Uneasy Relationship (Routledge, 2008) and Mediating Human Rights: Media,
Culture and Human Rights Law (Routledge, 2014). A central argument in her research is that tensions
between law and the media are inevitable because of a fundamental conflict in the way in which
‘reality’ is imagined and represented in the legal sphere and in the media. The focus of Gies’ recent
research has been on media representations of human rights law. Two developments take centre
stage in her recent research: the Human Rights Act 1998, an important piece of legislation aimed at
enhancing protection for human rights in a UK context, and the War on Terror which has generated
much media and legal debate on the potential for conflict between security and human rights. She is
currently also preparing to co-edit a volume involving the heavily mediatized murder trial of the
American exchange student Amanda Knox and her Italian co-accused Raffaele Sollecito, a transmedia
crime story that gripped audiences across the world.
Mieke Kox
Function:
PhD Candidate at the Criminology department of the Erasmus
University Rotterdam.
BIO: M.H. (Mieke) Kox has studied Criminology at Utrecht University and
graduated in 2007. Since then, she has been working for the Council for the Administration of
Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles, Stichting LOS (a non-governmental organization that
advocates for human rights for unauthorized migrants), the International Organization for Migration,
and the Criminology department of Utrecht University. She has, amongst others, conducted empirical
studies on the conditions in immigration detention, the lives of unauthorized migrants, the potential
deterrent effects of immigration detention and the detention experiences of prisoners and prison
staff. Currently, she is a PhD Candidate at the Criminology department of the Erasmus University
Rotterdam. Her research focuses on the legal consciousness of unauthorized migrants in the final
stage of the immigration system who are confronted with apprehension, detention and the risk of
deportation.
Prof. Dr. Gill McIvor
Function: Professor of Criminology at the University of Stirling and Codirector of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and a Visiting
Professor at the Glasgow School of Social Work, University of Strathclyde.
BIO: Dr. McIvor’s research has focused primarily on community sanctions,
with particular interests in women in the criminal justice system, problem-solving courts and criminal
justice responses to drug-related crime. Much of her work is policy related and/or
comparative/international. The latter includes research on women leaving prison and juvenile justice
in Australia and on community sanctions in Europe research interests include alternatives to
imprisonment (including specialist courts), young offenders and women who offend. Her recent
research includes an evaluation of the Scottish Drug Court and Youth Court pilots, women’s
experiences after prison in Australia and the evaluation of the 218 Centre. McIvor is a member of the
European Society of Criminology Working Groups on Community Sanctions, Gender and Justice and
Sentencing and Penal Decision-Making and a member of the EU COST Offender Supervision in Europe
working group on decision-making. Furthermore, she is a member of the Centre for Gender &
Feminist Studies at the University of Stirling and the Spinhuis Centre for Research on Incarcerated
Females at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement in Amsterdam.
Rick Verschoof
Function: Senior Judge at the District Court of the Mid-Netherlands,
Professor of Administration of Justice at Utrecht University and CoDirector of the Montaigne Centre for Judicial Administration and Conflict
Resolution
BIO: Prof. dr. Rick Verschoof studied Law at Utrecht University. After his graduation he was
appointed lecturer at that university. He became a lawyer, but later returned to the university for
almost ten years, during which he defended his dissertation on the features of the Board for
Indemnity Insurance (is it a body applying disciplinary law or a body settling private law disputes?).
More than 20 years ago Rick Verschoof became a judge, in that period he occupied 10 years
leadership functions as a member of the board of the District Court in Utrecht and later president of
the District Court in Dordrecht. In 2012 he was appointed as part time professor, in combination with
his profession as a judge.
His main fields of research concern judicial administration and conflict resolution in court
proceedings as well as judicial organization. Currently, he is leading a field research project about
what actions of judges have effect in terms of reaching settlements in the court room and how these
actions are appreciated by the litigants in terms of procedural justice. He is also training judges,
especially in relation to civil court hearings.