A penology for Europe

Abstract

On 22 March 2016 Belgium suffered a severe terrorist attack on its national airport, in Zaventem, close to Brussels, and the Maelbeek metro station. Thirty-two people were killed that day. Another 340 victims, some of whom suffered particularly serious injuries, will carry the scars for the rest of their lives. Such terrorist attacks, in the heart of Europe, pose an enormous challenge, one that goes beyond the role of the police and the judiciary or questions about the design and security of open or semi-open spaces, such as markets, metro stations, concert halls, nightclubs or airports. In addition to prevention and criminal investigation, there is also the question of the appropriate response when the perpetrators or their accomplices are caught. What is an appropriate punishment in such a context, for such awful offences? How long do we need to punish? And for what purpose do we punish? In this article we offer some reflections on these questions. We argue that the question of how to respond to crime – crimes of all kinds – should not be narrowed down to how we can impose “deserved” pain or how we can reach the goals of punishment more effectively; no, we should rather broaden it to the question of how we can strengthen and affirm our values and ideals through our response. “In figuring the equations of punishment … we cannot hold the punisher constant”, as James Whitman (2003) wrote in “Harsh Justice”. Punishment is not just about the defendants in the dock: it concerns us all, it affects us all.