Pieter Baan Center
Encyclopedia
The Pieter Baan Centre is a forensic psychiatric observation clinic in Utrecht, Netherlands
, operated by the Ministry of Security and Justice, where suspects of crimes in the Netherlands are observed to ascertain whether they can be held wholy responsible for their suspected crimes. When suspects are found guilty, but performed their crimes while suffering from some sort of psychiatric or psychological disorder, they may be applicable for involuntary commitment
(in Dutch terbeschikkingstelling or TBS), which means To be held at disposal. This is a special measure for crimes which are committed under psychologically abnormal circumstances. The purpose is to treat the perpetrator rather than to punish them and to work towards their reintegration into society.
The TBS measure is usually enacted after about one third to half of the prison sentence has been served, thought this practice is now (as of medio 2010) under review.
The duration of TBS terms are decided upon by the treatment staff in concordance with the Ministry of Justice and can last decades.
Since 2007 the clinic is part of the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP).
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, operated by the Ministry of Security and Justice, where suspects of crimes in the Netherlands are observed to ascertain whether they can be held wholy responsible for their suspected crimes. When suspects are found guilty, but performed their crimes while suffering from some sort of psychiatric or psychological disorder, they may be applicable for involuntary commitment
Involuntary commitment
Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
(in Dutch terbeschikkingstelling or TBS), which means To be held at disposal. This is a special measure for crimes which are committed under psychologically abnormal circumstances. The purpose is to treat the perpetrator rather than to punish them and to work towards their reintegration into society.
The TBS measure is usually enacted after about one third to half of the prison sentence has been served, thought this practice is now (as of medio 2010) under review.
The duration of TBS terms are decided upon by the treatment staff in concordance with the Ministry of Justice and can last decades.
Since 2007 the clinic is part of the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology (NIFP).