Adèle G. van der Plas (1950) lectured in criminology and criminal law at the University of Leiden and the Willem Pompe Institute for Criminal Law in Utrecht. She obtained her doctorate in law on the study: Revolution and criminal justice: the Cuban experiment (CEDLA, 1987). Since 1982 she has been practising as a criminal lawyer in Amsterdam and conducted the defence of several high-profile cases in the Netherlands. She also defended the Dutch Santo Daime churches in two criminal procedures and handled many so-called ‘magic mushrooms’ cases. She published on several topics related to fundamental rights in criminal procedures and the ongoing ‘war on drugs’.