Implied Influence of Personality Traits of Judges and Counsel on the Outcome of the Trial

Abstract

Its been suggested that there are other factors apart from the technicalities of the law, involved in the outcome of trials. It was indicated that personality of both the trial judge and the lawyer could influence the final outcome of the trial but this was yet to be empirically tested. The present study attempted a meta analysis of this phenomenon with lawyers and Judges of Oyo state, Nigeria. Twenty Judges who were incidentally sampled from the High Court of 00 State Judiciary and 60 lawyers equally incidentally sampled during their weekly meetings at the High Court premises participated in the study. It was observed that, generally, personality as a whole did not have significant influence on the outcome of trials both for the Judges and Lawyers. However, when the dimensions (Big Five) of personality were analysed for the presence of this phenomenon, it was observed that lawyers were more influenced in the number of cases handled, won or lost. Conscientiousness and emotionality had significant influence on number of cases won but no interactive influence was observed among the dimensions of personality. Extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness had influence on number of cases lost but no significant interactive influence was observed. The implication of these findings especially for the judicial process was discussed and recommendations suggested for smooth operation of the judicial process.