Suchergebnisse

Trust in judges is needed for voluntary acceptance of judicial decisions, and judicial transparency is thought to strengthen trust. It exposes the public to symbols that embrace a 'myth of legality' which is expected to have a positive effect on trust. We assess a specific understanding of transparency and trust by looking at the moderating effect of knowledge and predisposition to trust. We report on a field experiment which investigates the effect of a Dutch television series on trust. Findings show that judicial transparency indeed has a positive effect on trust. Moreover, our analysis demonstrates that it has the strongest effects on individuals with medium prior knowledge about the judiciary. However, higher predisposition to trust mitigated the effect of transparency, indicating a ceiling effect. This sustains the idea that the unique traits of visual judicial transparency expose typical judicial symbols that imply that impartiality which increases trust in judges.

Trust in judges is needed for voluntary acceptance of judicial decisions, and judicial transparency is thought to strengthen trust. It exposes the public to symbols that embrace a 'myth of legality' which is expected to have a positive effect on trust. We assess a specific understanding of transparency and trust by looking at the moderating effect of knowledge and predisposition to trust. We report on a field experiment which investigates the effect of a Dutch television series on trust. Findings show that judicial transparency indeed has a positive effect on trust. Moreover, our analysis demonstrates that it has the strongest effects on individuals with medium prior knowledge about the judiciary. However, higher predisposition to trust mitigated the effect of transparency, indicating a ceiling effect. This sustains the idea that the unique traits of visual judicial transparency expose typical judicial symbols that imply that impartiality which increases trust in judges.

In the Netherlands the recent debate on lay involvement in the administration of criminal justice was initiated by politicians who maintain that the public favours such involvement. The response of the judiciary and legal academics to these politicians has been fairly defensive. They have pointed in particular to the dangers of the punitive character of the vox populi and rejected the idea. As a result, the debate on lay involvement has quickly become a black and white issue. This article presents the findings of a recent research of the Netherlands Council for the Judiciary and the Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice regarding the opinion of the public on different kinds of lay involvement under different conditions. This research shows that both the position of the politicians that favour lay involvement in the administration of criminal justice and the position of the judiciary and legal academics that reject lay involvement are to a relatively large degree unrepresentative of the wishes and views of the public.

In the Netherlands the recent debate on lay involvement in the administration of criminal justice was initiated by politicians who maintain that the public favours such involvement. The response of the judiciary and legal academics to these politicians has been fairly defensive. They have pointed in particular to the dangers of the punitive character of the vox populi and rejected the idea. As a result, the debate on lay involvement has quickly become a black and white issue. This article presents the findings of a recent research of the Netherlands Council for the Judiciary and the Research and Documentation Centre of the Dutch Ministry of Justice regarding the opinion of the public on different kinds of lay involvement under different conditions. This research shows that both the position of the politicians that favour lay involvement in the administration of criminal justice and the position of the judiciary and legal academics that reject lay involvement are to a relatively large degree unrepresentative of the wishes and views of the public.