The Christian Democratic party is to reopen its offensive against delinquent children, prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende told the CDA congress at the weekend.

‘Anti-social behaviour is our enemy,’ he told the party, according to Monday’s Volkskrant.
Balkenende wants youngsters aged 12 to 18 to pay for the cost of damage they cause and to carry out community service sentences in their own neighbourhood where they will be seen by friends and family. This will ‘hurt their reputation’, Balkenende said.
Later this year, CDA justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin will present a new law making it possible for the police to forcibly return the under-12s to their homes if they are misbehaving on the streets at night, the Volkskrant reported.
Balkenende says the tough approach is necessary in the party’s attempts to promote ‘respect’ in all sections of society.