Legal representation and trial outcomes: a bourdieusian analysis of chinese criminal court practices

Based on a rare survey of criminal justice practitioners from one large coastal province in China, this study provides an application of Bourdieusian sociology of juridical practice in Chinese criminal courts. We test whether and how criminal trial outcomes can be predicted by using variables measur...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: He, Ni (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
In: Crime, law and social change
Year: 2016, Volume: 66, Issue: 5, Pages: 491-506
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Criminal Justice
Defense Lawyer
Legal Professional
Legal Representation
Migrant Worker
Description
Summary:Based on a rare survey of criminal justice practitioners from one large coastal province in China, this study provides an application of Bourdieusian sociology of juridical practice in Chinese criminal courts. We test whether and how criminal trial outcomes can be predicted by using variables measuring various forms of Bourdieusian capital. We found that measurements based on self-reported efficacy of legal representation practices during the pretrial and trail stages (as activated judicial capital), more so than those indicating respondents’ personal and professional statuses (either inherited or acquired capital), yield greater and more consistent impact on the trial outcomes. Implications for future theory, methodology and Chinese rule of law reform are discussed.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 506
ISSN:1573-0751
DOI:10.1007/s10611-016-9639-1