In the news: Michel Vols and the battle against drug dens

Mayors in the Netherlands are increasingly closing down premises where drugs have been found or sold, but at the same time many of their options for tackling nuisance are not being implemented enough. The extra powers to tackle domestic nuisance are not very effective , is the conclusion drawn by UG researchers headed by Prof. Michel Vols. They were commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to investigate how unscrupulous premises owners are being tackled using the Housing Act Enhanced Enforcement Act.

Minister Plasterk sent the research report to the House of Representatives this week. The research will also be discussed by programmes such as Een Vandaag.

Pioneer of new nuisance law

Vols is a specialist in the field of the enforcement of public order and how to deal with nuisance. He paved the way for the ‘Domestic Nuisance Act’ that came into force on 1 July 2017. Vols has been working for years on a different approach to dealing with home owners who cause nuisance. He is not so much interested in creating a law and order situation as in recognizing the interests of all the various parties in society. ‘You have to be tolerant of the intolerant’, he said once in an extensive interview.

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• Michel Vols