This annual event brings together colleagues from criminal law departments across the Netherlands. It offers a chance to meet peers, exchange ideas and strengthen connections in criminal law research and education.

The theme of this year’s event is ‘Criminal Law Challenged: The Place of Criminal Law in a Changing Society.’

The day focuses on pressing societal developments that increasingly call for a criminal law response and that confront contemporary criminal law with its limits. In a society facing challenges such as organised crime, environmental and climate harm, polarisation and social inequality, and geopolitical tensions, expecta­tions of criminal law continue to grow. At the same time, these developments raise the question what role criminal law should play in addressing these developments and where its limits lie. Researchers from the Amsterdam Center for Criminal Justice will present their research and engage in discussion about how criminal law responds to complex challenges, new forms of cross-border crime, changing social norms and political tensions. The programme will address fundamental questions about the impact of policies aimed at tackling organised and undermining crime on the rule of law, the possibilities of criminal law in responding to global problems such as ecocide and the role of criminal law in broader security debates. Attention will also be given to the growing pressure on the criminal justice system due to the increasing number of criminal cases, the importance of safeguarding independent courts and the question whether current prison systems contribute to justice or risk reinforcing social inequalities.