'Neighbours from hell'

The rapidly spreading urbanization of the Netherlands often leads to tensions in society. Neighborhood nuisance is a concrete example of this. Commissioned by the Ministry of Security and Justice and the Center for Crime Prevention and Safety, Michel Vols, professor of public-order law, conducted research on the approach to neighbor nuisance and the use of legal instruments to improve that approach.

Solution-oriented approach

Vols: "When neighbor nuisances reach dramatic levels, eviction often seems to be the only solution. However, the problem with evictions is that it often only leads to displacement of the problem rather than solutions. In fact, many nuisance abusers struggle with problems. These may be psychological problems, addictions or the wrong social network."

"The approach that we as the University of Groningen have developed aims to help victims faster by working on the underlying causes of nuisance. No more waiting 4 to 5 years but acting much sooner. No more primarily making people homeless but acting faster and less invasive. We are developing this solution-oriented method to tackle nuisances together with, for example, housing corporations and police officers."

Insights from behavioral science

Our approach involves going to court more quickly when people are no longer willing or able to resolve something voluntarily. The judge is then asked for a behavioral order. This means that we ask the judge what behavior someone should no longer exhibit and what he should do. We are investigating ways in which judges in the Netherlands can make smarter use of insights from behavioral sciences.

Positive evaluation

So this new method of tackling "neighbors from hell" focuses primarily on modifying behavior. In 2015, 54 cases throughout the Netherlands were tackled in this way. Commissioned by the Ministry of Security and Justice's Scientific Research and Documentation Center, the project was evaluated by an independent research firm. This evaluation was positive.

Housing associations enthusiastic

The housing corporations involved are enthusiastic about the behavioral indication. The majority say they will continue to use it in the future and call the behavioral indication a low-threshold and cost-saving alternative to eviction. Although it is difficult to say anything about effectiveness at this point, the nuisance appears to have stopped after obtaining a behavioral order in the vast majority of cases studied. In some cases, the use of a behavioral order was not even necessary because the announcement of a behavioral order already caused the nuisance to stop. In yet other cases, the housing corporation opted for an eviction process because the nuisance was so severe that eviction was appropriate or the behavioral order would most likely be ineffective.

An academic article has now also appeared on this approach. This article was published in the Dutch Journal of Civil Law: M. Vols, "Bad tenancy, behavioral instructions and tenancy law", Dutch Journal of Civil Law, 2016, number 7, pp. 214-223.

Michel Vols

Michel Vols has become the leading international researcher in the field of the delicate balance between effectively tackling public order disturbances and respecting the human rights of nuisance creators and victims alike. In 2016, he received not only the Nicolaas Muleriusstipendium but also the Gratama Science Prize. He also became a member of the Young Academy Groningen.