Background

The Amsterdam Center for Criminal Justice is based in the Department of Criminal Law which prides itself on a long track record of academic excellence in international, transnational, and comparative criminal law and procedure. Over the past two decades, it has developed a strong domestic and international reputation for theoretical and practice‐oriented research on contemporary issues in Dutch, transnational, and international criminal justice. The establishment of the ACCJ ensures the consolidation and institutional embedding of criminal law research within the Amsterdam Law School as well as the renewal and diversification of the Department’s research agenda in line with the faculty’s programmatic needs and societal demands in the coming years. 

The initiative to establish the Center was inspired, among others, by the desire to pay tribute to the memory of the late colleague at the Amsterdam Law School, and a mentor and friend to several members of the Department — Professor and Judge Albertus (Bert) H.J. Swart (1941‐2011). Bert Swart was both a renowned scholar and a prominent practitioner. Among others, he served as a judge at the Amsterdam Court of Appeals and in 2003-2006 as an ad litem judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The ACCJ's mission draws inspiration from Bert Swart’s work, and carries his legacy forward.
 

Mission

The ACCJ’s mission is to generate and stimulate innovative, critical and solution‐oriented research on criminal law, justice and policy in a global context. The ACCJ members engage in and contribute to scholarly and public debate on the modern-day challenges posed to criminal law and justice, which have societal relevance across the international, transnational and domestic realms.
 

Structure

The ACCJ’s members include all academic and teaching staff of the Department of Criminal Law at the Amsterdam Law School, as well as external (PhD) researchers associated with the Department.

The main governing body of the Center is the plenary meeting, consisting of the current staff members of the Department. The ACCJ’s daily operations are governed by the Executive Board, composed of the Center’s Director, Coordinators and Data and Social Media Managers.
 

Executive Board

Data and Social Media Managers: