On the Roles of Control and Outcomes in Procedural Justice

Abstract

Previous research has indicated that, in legal situations, regardless of trial outcome, an adversarial procedure may be preferred to an inquisitorial procedure because the former promotes a greater sense of control. This might suggest that fairness in procedures and fairness in outcomes are independent. Results presented here, however, indicated that, although an adversarial procedure was preferred to an inquisitorial one, when the specific issue of fairness was paramount, the perceived likelihood that the procedure would produce an appropriate outcome was judged more important than the control the procedure allowed.