Legitimating Criminal Justice through Community Engagement: Lessons from the Jury Experience

Abstract

Fundamentally justifying the jury is the opportunity it provides for community participation in criminal justice and the legitimation function that offers. Indeed, a strong political motivation for the recent introduction of jury trial in several transitional jurisdictions is the public confidence it transfers to the system at large. Recent research on juror comprehension and satisfaction suggests the possibility of interrogating the participation/confidence nexus more intricately. This note argues that it is the quality of the participation and the participant satisfaction which eventuates that predicts juror confidence. Where the legitimacy of criminal justice through juror participation is to be maximised then the factors effecting satisfaction and confidence are influential variables.