NJLP conference

The Netherlands Journal of Legal Philosophy is pleased to announce its biennial international conference on legal philosophy and legal theory, which will take place on 29th and 30th November 2013 at the VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The presumption of innocence is considered to be a fundamental and inviolable principle of criminal law. Over the past decades, however, the emphasis on the rights of suspect and defendant has given way to a more one-sided instrumental view of criminal law as a means to reduce risk and attain safety. This instrumental view puts fundamental principles such as nulla poena, ne bis in idem, nemo tenetur, in dubio pro reo, nullum crimen sine culpa, as well as the presumption of innocence under pressure.

One can think, for example, of recent Acts on Terrorism that do not require suspicion but merely indications of a terrorist crime, thereby lowering the level of suspicion required for investigative activities; of the verdict of the ECtHR in Salabiaku v. France where the ECtHR allows for a reversal of the burden of proof in the trial phase; and of the possibility of review after wrongful acquittals in the post-trial phase.

In another respect, however, the presumption of innocence, or at least evidentiary requirements, has been strengthened over the last two decades. Partly as a reaction to serious miscarriages of justice, research has been done with a focus on, among others, Bayesian statistics and argumentation theory. The aim of this research is to strengthen the analysis of the evidence and therewith the motivation of judgements.

Conference fee
The fee for the conference is €150, payable to the bank account of the ‘Vereniging voor Wijsbegeerte van het Recht’ (Netherlands Association for Philosophy of Law). The fee for PhD students and for subscribers of NJLP (including members of the VWR) is €100. The fee includes coffee, lunch and tea on Friday and Saturday and the special issue of the NJLP (2013-3) on the presumption of innocence with articles of all keynote speakers. Travelling expenses and accommodation costs are not included.

Please transfer the conference fee to the following bank account:
IBAN: NL17INGB0004216886
BIC: INGBNL2A

Location
VU University is conveniently located at 20 (public transport) minutes from Schiphol International Airport, 10 minutes from train station Amsterdam South and 10 minutes from the centre of Amsterdam.

PROGRAM
You can find the abstracts of the lectures in the program. Please keep in mind that each day of the conference takes place on a different location.

Organizing committee
Anne Ruth Mackor (University of Groningen, member of the editorial board NJLP, editor of the special issue on the presumption of innocence)
Vincent Geeraets (VU University Amsterdam, co-editor of the special issue on the presumption of innocence)
Alwin van Dijk (University of Groningen)
Derk Venema (Radboud University Nijmegen)

For more information, please send an email to: A.R.Mackor@rug.nl