Marlies Heirstrate

Marlies Heirstrate is a teaching assistant and PhD candidate. She holds a master's degree (2021) in Criminology from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and has research interest in prosecutorial case-ending decisions, decision-making, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and electronic monitoring of minors. For her Master's thesis, she examined the international forms, pains and gains of electronic monitoring of minors, the comparison with electronic monitoring of adults and how far electronic monitoring in Flanders has come.

Currently, she is doing a doctoral research on prosecutorial case-ending decisions. The doctoral research examines the dismissal of criminal proceedings by paying a fee (Verval van Strafvordering door Betaling van een Geldsom - VSBG) in Belgium, commonly known as the amicable settlement. This research situates itself at the beginning of the criminal justice chain. Marlies investigates how this procedure operates within the criminal justice system from a broader penological perspective. Her research delves into both the legal and practical dimensions of the settlement process, with particular attention to the decision-making processes, how they fulfill their roles, and the impact on persons undergoing the procedure.