Marte Leys

About

Marte Leys is an FWO-funded PhD researcher in criminology at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium. Her research focuses on drug treatment courts and alternative approaches to drug-related offending within the criminal justice system. In her PhD project, she examines how drug treatment courts operate in Flanders (Belgium), how recent legislation on restorative trajectories is implemented in practice, and how these courts affect recidivism. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, she explores both the experiences of professionals involved and participants and the longer-term outcomes of these judicial interventions. Alongside her doctoral research, she has been involved in research on young adults in the criminal justice system, with a particular interest in alternative judicial approaches and the relationship between punishment, rehabilitation and support.