NCJ Number
79676
Date Published
1978
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The discussions of the work group on the justice relationship to research are summarized.
Abstract
The discussions of the justice work group are a frank exchange between the judges and other groups, particularly researchers. The representative of the judges feels that the judiciary is satisfying its obligations and that scientific research on the judiciary poses a threat to judges' authority and to social order. The judiciary-researcher confrontation causes a series of reactions: a reduction of the judges' social role, and a psychological movement permitting the judge to take the initiative in the choice of penalty. Under the present system, the penal process uses all available human resources to justify culpability and sentencing decisions. Frequently, assessment of the offenders' personalities becomes nothing more than a means of shuffling folders to justify the judge's decisions. Researchers are in the difficult situation of being dependent on the institution which is the object of their analysis. Lulled by job security, the researchers may become inoffensive but administratively useful in their research endeavors. This is unfortunate because the lack of communication in the judicial process and judges' neglect of problems of conscience make constructive criticism from outside necessary in the formulation of policy. Such policy currently does not exist in Belgium and is much needed. In their research, researchers must work not only with judicial records, but with the judges themselves. The work group expresses the hope that judges will enter into an intellectually honest dialogue with researchers in a spirit of democratic cooperation for the common good.