RT Article
T1 Enhancing the legitimacy of sentences in the minds of the public: Evidence from a public opinion survey in Hong Kong
JF Punishment & society
VO 22
IS 5
SP 617
OP 636
A1 Cheng, Kevin Kwok-Yin
A2 Pushkarna, Natasha
A2 Ri, Sayaka
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/176187621X
AB Legal and criminology scholars have devoted a great deal of attention towards measuring public confidence in the courts and sentencing. However, little is known about how attitudes toward sentencing relate to the more complex concept of legitimacy. Departing from conventional measurements of the public’s confidence in the courts and their support for various sentence outcomes, this study centres on the process of sentencing and its relation to ‘sentence legitimacy’. The central question posed in this article is what makes sentence outcomes legitimate? Survey responses from the Hong Kong public revealed that the public viewed court sentences as legitimate through the courts’ overall adherence to procedural justice when making sentencing decisions and the perceived effectiveness of those sentences. Distributive justice of sentencing decisions was not found to influence sentence legitimacy. This article concludes with implications for the courts when delivering sentences.
K1 Distributive Justice
K1 Effectiveness
K1 Legitimacy
K1 Procedural Justice
K1 Sentencing
DO 10.1177/1462474520915595