If the police refer the case to the prosecutor, they are also authorized to issue a sanction order against the accused instead of summoning and charging him the case before the court. This punitive order will gradually replace the consensual sanction/transaction settlement previously proposed by the public prosecutor to the accused. The aim is to reduce the number of offenses that go unsanctioned. A different procedure is issued if the case is classified as a misdemeanor. The Dutch definition of crime includes violent crimes, such as serious harm to life and serious harm to property. This category also includes certain traffic offenses, such as drunk driving, hit-and-runs, and drug-related offenses. In these crimes, the prosecutor can propose a settlement as well as issue a sanction order. If the accused refuses to accept it or does not agree with the sanction order, the case is taken to court. The courts of first instance are composed of a judge for less serious offenses (who has the power to impose custodial sentences of up to one year). ) and three judges for more serious cases. Most of the time, trials take place without questioning witnesses and judges base their decision mainly on written records prepared by the police during the investigation phase. If convicted, the penalties imposed range from fines and community service to imprisonment. . Everything can be defined conditionally or unconditionally. Sanctions can be punishments, which must be proportionate, or measures (such as medical treatment), which have more of a rehabilitation objective and do not need to be proportionate. The custodial sentence determined varies between one day and 20 years. The length of the sentence depends on middle of paper......ch Juvenile justice. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 7(2), 85-106. doi:10.1080/15377930902929182Mexico country profile. (2013). Mexico Profile, 1-70. Ribeiro, L. (2011). How does the criminal justice system work from an empirical perspective? An analysis of the case of the Netherlands. European Journal of Crime Policy and Research, 17(4), 267-284. doi:10.1007/s10610-010-9131-x. Ringnalda, A. and Kool, R. (2012). The prosecution of bias crimes in the Netherlands and the problem of net-widening: fundamental limits to criminal liability. Crime, Law and Social Change, 58(1), 53-74. doi:10.1007/s10611-012-9369-y van de Riet, M., Bernasco, W. & van der Laan, P. (2007). Between protection and repression: a brief history of juvenile policing in the Netherlands. International Journal of Police Science and Management, 9(3), 214-225. doi:10.1350/ijps.2007.9.3.214