Abstract
The present research analyzed the trust of juvenile and women prisoners in the criminal justice system of Pakistan with a focus upon the perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of justice institutions for procedural and distributive fairness. Data were collected from both under-trial and convicted juvenile and women prisoners from Borstal Institute and District Jail Faisalabad respectively. Although larger proportions of the respondents recognized and accepted the authority of various justice institutions for rule of law, a significant number of respondents viewed that justice institutions protect the interests of powerful people and do not represent moral authority. Police lacked the trust of the respondents for procedural fairness in terms of respect, impartiality, and fair treatment. However, courts have been trusted for impartiality and fair treatment compared to police and other justice institutions. The logistic results indicated educational attainment, age, prison status, and income level differently influenced experiences of the prisoners towards procedural and distributive fairness of justice institutions. Younger, illiterate, and under-trial prisoners with relatively low household income levels had low perceived legitimacy of justice institutions and less trust in the criminal justice system. Low scoring on socio-economic variables seemed to be related to increased vulnerability of the prisoners, in turn, less trust in the criminal justice system.
Highlights
The present research was an attempt to analyze the trust of juvenile and women prisoners in the criminal justice system of Pakistan
The findings indicate that women prisoners have higher odds across all the items of perceived legitimacy of justice institutions compared to those of juveniles
Perceived negative encounters with law enforcing authorities and less awareness about legal procedures might be responsible for low odds for the recognition and acceptance of legal institutions by younger, under trial, and illiterate prisoners
Summary
The perceived legitimacy and effectiveness of justice institutions in administering justice for juvenile and women prisoners were analyzed. The Criminal Justice System (CJS) of Pakistan originates from colonial British rule and comprises three important institutions: Police, Courts, and Prisons (Shinwari, 2015). The CJS plays an important role in dispensing justice and keeps the legitimacy of justice institutions intact and ensuring people’s commitment to the rule of law. Perceived trust deficit about fair procedural and distributive justice may push socially vulnerable groups to resist all strategies or steps takento improve their lives, which in turn poses serious ramifications for rule of law and protection of legal rights of citizens. The legitimacy of justice institutions, and people’s commitment to the rule of law is cardinal in ensuring the smooth functioning ofthe society. Self-reported monthly income of household from all sourcesat the time of imprisonment
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