Intoxication and criminal responsibility in Dutch criminal Law

This article deals with the question in how far an offence committed in the Netherlands under the influence of alcohol or other drugs can be imputed to the offender. Unlike many other countries the Dutch Penal Code does not contain specific provisions with respect to the criminal liability of addicted or intoxicated offenders. In principle, they are held responsible for their offences, even when the dolus or culpa is absent at the moment they commit their offence. Doctrine and jurisprudence found this liability on the principle of 'culpa/dolus in causa', by accepting an anterior dolus or culpa, which is situated at the moment the offender takes alcohol or other drugs. As is shown in this article, the - nondogmatic - interpretation of this culpa in causa doctrine leaves hardly any space for a claim to impunity.