Ministerie van Justitie

Organization Aim and role

The WODC aims to make a professional contribution to development and evaluation of justice policy set by the Netherlands Ministry of Justice.

WODC (the Dutch abbreviation for Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum, in English: Research and Documentation Centre) can best be characterised as an international criminal justice knowledge centre. "Excellence" and "customer-orientation" are the organisation's guiding principles. Its major output is knowledge for the benefit of policy development.

Its scientific contribution to policy development and evaluation comprises:

• defining the research policy of the Ministry of Justice;  
• assessing the need for expertise and information within the Ministry; 
• advising how much and what kind of research is needed to answer policy-related questions; 
• conducting in-house research; 
• commissioning external research; 
• indicating the possible implications of research findings for standing policy; 
• systematically collecting, storing, enhancing and providing criminal justice information produced by external organisations; 
• funding research; 
• granting access to official files for research purposes; 
• disseminating information (e.g. publication of magazines, organisation of conferences, etc.)