An Inquiry into the Blurring Boundaries between Professionals and Paraprofessionals in Dutch Courts and the Public Prosecution Service

N.L. Holvast, J.M.W. Lindeman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The autonomous position of legal professionals is no longer self-evident.Professionals are under increased pressure to reform. This phenomenon is not only true for legal professionals. A broader trend – which is recognised for the medical profession, academic profession and alike –is that paraprofessionals are gaining amore prominent position. In this paper, we focus on the developments in the Dutch public justice system. We conduct a case-study on the role of paraprofessionals in courts and in the public prosecution service – two understudied legal institutions in this regard. By drawing on empirical data unfolding the working routine of the judiciary and the prosecution service, we find two paradigms that define the thinking about professionalism: a traditional ‘pure professional’ paradigm and a new, more hybrid paradigm that includes(policy-based) managerial thinking. The latter appears to be enhanced by a New Public Management (NPM) approach within these institutions. Although we observe resistance among (para) professionals towards professional changes and ambiguity in the relationships between professionals and paraprofessionals, we also observe that managerialism has changed the work processes and the division of labour between professionals and paraprofessionals. 

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)371-389
Number of pages19
JournalInternational Journal of Law in Context
Volume16
Issue number4
Early online date23 Oct 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

Keywords

  • professionalism
  • managerialism
  • paraprofessionals
  • judiciary
  • prosecution office

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