mr. Gerlof Meijer

About Gerlof Meijer

Gerlof Meijer has been a criminal judge since the 1990s, most recently at the Overijssel court. He has presided over major criminal cases, such as a double liquidation case in the secured Rotterdam courtroom, the Urker murder case, the Ketelbrug case, and the Deventer carbon monoxide case.

He is affiliated as a lecturer with the SSR, the training institute for the judiciary, the police academy, the OSR, and the Academy for Legal Practice. Meijer is a (co-)author of numerous criminal law works, such as; Criminal Law Doctrines, the editions Self-defense and Procedural Errors in the series, Practical Guide to Criminal Law, Elementary Substantive and Formal Criminal Law, all published by Kluwer, and The Road to the Modern Criminal Verdict published by BOOM.

Since September 2016, Meijer has been the first Dutch judge to take the stage with a theater lecture titled “Criminal Law? Real Life!”. He also has a theater tour in 22 theaters, where he attempts to clarify criminal justice for the public during an evening program using images, photos, and music.

In addition to his theater and educational work, Meijer has increasingly focused on speaking to large groups. Groups such as lawyers, judges, but also groups in the social field, such as victim support and students. He sees the challenge in conveying criminal law and everything related to it to the public in a simple manner. He does not shy away from discussions, for example, about how the criminal judge functions in our society. Is he understandable? Is he sufficiently accessible? Is there still enough authority, and does he deserve it? Why doesn’t a serial rapist receive a life sentence, and why only ‘a small community service’ for a repeatedly recidivist shoplifter?

Outside of criminal law, Meijer is also able to passionately speak about his development from a Deventer boy, child of deaf parents, to the esteemed position of judge. This requires a great degree of self-discipline, motivation, and a very strong drive. He knows how to present this enthusiastically and can serve as an inspiration for others.

Meijer has led professionals, judges, for many years, each with their own perspective on society and criminal law. As a manager, this is not always easy to direct. Meijer is a football enthusiast and regularly rides his racing bike to keep fit. Plenty of energy to give meetings a meaningful but also enjoyable content!