Arubian Justice system vs the United States justice system??

[medleyrelay]

Everyone in the media seems to be bashing the Arubian justice system in this case - since they let the 3 young men go after the first interagation. Now my question is - would these 3 actually be in jail at all here in the U. S.? There does not seem to be a crime scene - there is no body - how would the U. S. have held them beyond an interegation? Was anyone put in jail over Chandra Levi (Gary Condit??) when was Scott Peterson arrested - when Laci's body came ashore. How can the U. S. media be so upset over Arubian justice?  Also 17 year old Joran is underage and not able to see his own father - would that happen in the U. S.  At the very least these 3 would be out on bail.  Am I wrong? Please help me out here!

[numbersarecool]

Aruba is under Dutch jurisdiction, therefore you would have to have some idea of Dutch legislation in order to understand this case.  At least keep an open mind of the different set of rules they have in Aruba, i.e. handling of suspects and what being a suspect really means.  

IMO, our media is bashing the Arubian system because:
1)  they genuinely care about Natalee  
2)  they want "their story" (ratings)  
3)  U.S. media represents the voice of its citizens who want pressure applied for good reasons in that we don't trust one of our own in foreign hands (especially when suspects have close ties to political figures).  Also, we tend to criticize when not given the full story.

And in reply to your question, IMO a valid comparative analysis cannot be asserted between the two systems since we as lay people, do not have full details of the case or any grasp of the Arubian/Dutch legal system.  All we know is that Holloway "may" be an international victim of crime, therefore this case remains under their investigation/laws.  We can only speculate the intentions of Arubian officials and trust that our FBI is handling this case with Dutch/local officials in the most productive and efficient manner.

[mojo]

medleyrelay - i agree with you. the ability to hold a suspect without charge for 116 days? no talk of bail, the restrictions on their lawyers - i doubt that if this were in the US the suspects would be in jail especially van der sloot because of his age. they'd be out on bail or their own recognisance.

[bama mama]

I am not a legal expert, but from following the story I have gathered that there are these differences in the Aruban (Dutch) justice system and the US system.

     1.  They can hold suspects, as you have noted, when they do not have enough evidence to arrest them.  (And from what I see, it is a good thing they can.)
     2.  The suspects seem not to have the right to a lawyer when they are being interrogated.
     3.  There is no jury.  The judge rules on everything.
     4.  As I understand, there are no plea bargains.  I'm not sure of this.
     5.  The Dutch-Araban law prohibits the police and prosecutors from giving out information about the progress of the case.  If they were to bring us up to date on the investigation, the case would be thrown out of court by the judge.

It is a different system entirely, including how they go about investigations.