Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T03:16:20.369Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Performing Impartiality: Judicial Demeanor and Legitimacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Kathy Mack  and
Sharyn Roach Anleu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The demeanor exhibited by a judge is a key element in criminal proceedings, especially in direct interactions with the defendant, defense representatives, and prosecutors. The judicial demeanor(s) displayed must meet the normative confines of the judicial role—primarily impartiality—within the practical constraints of long case lists, when interactions are subject to considerable time pressure.

Drawing on findings from an extensive national court observation study, this article examines the varied demeanors displayed by magistrates—the presiding judicial officers—in Australia's lower courts. It explores the complex meanings of these demeanors, and considers how they may enhance or undermine the legitimacy of judicial authority.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , Winter 2010 , pp. 137 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2010 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Allan, Alfred, Allan, Maria M., Drake, Deirdre, and Froyland, Irene. 2005. An Observational Study of Bail Decision‐Making. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 12 (2): 319–33.Google Scholar
American Bar Association. Model Code of Judicial Conduct 2007. 2007. http://www.abanet.org/judicialethics/ABA_MCJC_approved.pdf (accessed August 14, 2009).Google Scholar
Asma, David. 2006. Genuflecting at the Bench: Rituals of Power and Power of Rituals in American Courts. Red Feather Journal, http://critcrim.org/redfeather/journal‐pomocrim/Vol‐5‐Dramaturgy/genuflecting%20at%20the%20bench.htm (accessed August 14, 2009).Google Scholar
Astor, Hilary. 2007. Mediator Neutrality: Making Sense of Theory and Practice. Social and Legal Studies 16 (2): 221–39.Google Scholar
Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA). 2007. Guide to Judicial Conduct. Carlton: Australian Institute of Judicial Administration.Google Scholar
Baldwin, John. 1997. Small Claims in the County Courts in England and Wales: The Bargain Basement of Civil Justice? Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Baldwin, John, and Davis, Gwynn. 2003. Empirical Research in Law. In The Oxford Handbook of Legal Studies, ed. Cane, Peter and Tushnet, Mark, 880–904. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Blanck, Peter David. 1990. What Empirical Research Tells Us: Studying Judges' and Juries' Behavior. American University Law Review 40:775–804.Google Scholar
Blanck, Peter David, Rosenthal, Robert, Hart, Allen J., and Bernieri, Frank. 1990. The Measure of the Judge: An Empirically‐Based Framework for Exploring Trial Judges' Behavior. Iowa Law Review 75:653–84.Google Scholar
Burnett, Ann, and Badzinski, Diane M. 2005. Judge Nonverbal Communication on Trial: Do Mock Trial Jurors Notice? Journal of Communication 55 (2): 209–24.Google Scholar
Carlen, Pat. 1976. Magistrates' Justice. Law in Society Series, ed. Campbell, C. M. and Wiles, P. N. P. London: Martin Robertson.Google Scholar
Casper, Jonathan D., Tyler, Tom R., and Fisher, Bonnie. 1988. Procedural Justice in Felony Cases. Law and Society Review 22 (3): 483–507.Google Scholar
Cole, Bankole. 1990. Rough Justice: Criminal Proceedings in Nigerian Magistrates' Courts. International Journal of the Sociology of Law 18 (3): 299–316.Google Scholar
Conley, John M., and O'Barr, William M. 1990. Rules versus Relationships. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Cowan, Dave, Hunter, Caroline, Hitchings, Emma, Blandy, Sarah, Nixon, Judy, Pantazis, Christina, and Parr, Sadie. 2005. “Pretty Boring Stuff”: The Role of the District Judge in Housing Possession Proceedings. Paper presented at Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, June 2–5, in Las Vegas, Nevada.Google Scholar
Davies, Margaret. 2002. Asking the Law Question: The Dissolution of Legal Theory, 2nd ed. Pyrmont, NSW: Lawbook Co.Google Scholar
Diamond, Shari Seidman. 1990. Revising Images of Public Punitiveness: Sentencing by Lay and Professional English Magistrates. Law & Social Inquiry 15 (2): 191–221.Google Scholar
Eisenstein, James, Flemming, Roy B., and Nardulli, Peter F. 1988. The Contours of Justice: Communities and their Courts. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Eisenstein, James, and Jacob, Herbert. 1977. Felony Justice: An Organizational Analysis of Criminal Courts. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.Google Scholar
Fallon, Richard H. Jr. 2005. Legitimacy and the Constitution. Harvard Law Review 118 (6): 1787–853.Google Scholar
Flemming, Roy B., Nardulli, Peter F., and Eisenstein, James. 1992. The Craft of Justice: Politics and Work in Criminal Court Communities. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Galanter, Marc. 1974. Why the “Haves” Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change. Law and Society Review 9:95–160.Google Scholar
Gleeson, A. M. 1998. Performing the Role of the Judge. Judicial Officers Bulletin 10 (8): 57–60.Google Scholar
Golder, Hilary. 1991. The Making of the Modern Magistracy. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society 77:30–40.Google Scholar
Greenhouse, Carol J. 1988. Courting Difference: Issues of Interpretation and Comparison in the Study of Legal Identities. Law and Society Review 22 (4): 687–707.Google Scholar
Harris, Alexes. 2007. Diverting and Abdicating Judicial Discretion: Cultural, Political and Procedural Dynamics in California Juvenile Justice. Law and Society Review 41 (2): 387–427.Google Scholar
Hunter, Rosemary. 2005. Styles of Judging: How Magistrates Deal With Applications for Intervention Orders. Alternative Law Journal 30 (5): 231–36, 246.Google Scholar
Hutton, Neil. 1987. The Sociological Analysis of Courtroom Interaction: A Review Essay. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 20:110–20.Google Scholar
ISBA Bench and Bar Section Council, Subcommittee on the Criteria for an Excellent Judge. 2002. What's the Measure of Judicial Excellence? http://www.isba.org/IBJ/oct02lj/p516.htm (accessed August 28, 2009).Google Scholar
Kritzer, Herbert M. 2007. Toward a Theorization of Craft. Social and Legal Studies 16:321–40.Google Scholar
La Trobe University Legal Studies Department. 1980. Guilty, Your Worship: A Study of Victoria's Magistrates' Courts. Bundoora, Victoria: La Trobe University.Google Scholar
Lynch, Michael. 1997. Preliminary Notes on Judges' Work: The Judge as a Constituent of Courtroom “Hearings.” In Law in Action: Ethnomethodological and Conversation Analytic Approaches to Law, ed. Travers, Max and Manzo, John F., 99–130. Aldershot, UK: Dartmouth.Google Scholar
Kathy, Mack, and Sharyn, Roach Anleu. 2004. Job Satisfaction v. Stress: How Magistrates Rate Their Jobs. Law Institute Journal 78 (10): 32–40.Google Scholar
Kathy, Mack, and Sharyn, Roach Anleu. 2005a. Judicial Appointment and the Skills for Judicial Office. Journal of Judicial Administration 15:37–53.Google Scholar
Kathy, Mack, and Sharyn, Roach Anleu. 2005b. Magistrates' Everyday Work and Emotional Labour. Journal of Law and Society 32 (4): 590–614.Google Scholar
Kathy, Mack, and Sharyn, Roach Anleu. 2006. Magistrates' Judicial and Non‐Judicial Functions, Including Working Relationships. Flinders University, Adelaide: Magistrates Research Project. In authors' possession.Google Scholar
Kathy, Mack, and Sharyn, Roach Anleu. 2007. Magistrates, Magistrates Courts and Social Change. Law & Policy 29 (2): 183–209.Google Scholar
Mack, Kathy, and Roach Anleu, Sharyn. 2007. “Getting Through the List”: Judgecraft and Legitimacy in the Lower Courts. Social and Legal Studies 16:341–61.Google Scholar
Mather, Lynn. 1995. The Fired Football Coach (Or, How Trial Courts Make Policy). In Contemplating Courts, ed. Epstein, Lee, 170–202. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.Google Scholar
McBarnet, Doreen J. 1981. Conviction: Law, the State and the Construction of Justice. London: Macmillan Press.Google Scholar
McEwen, Craig A., and Maiman, Richard J. 1986. In Search of Legitimacy: Toward an Empirical Analysis. Law & Policy 8 (3): 257–73.Google Scholar
Mileski, Maureen. 1971. Courtroom Encounters: An Observational Study of a Lower Criminal Court. Law and Society Review 5 (4): 473–538.Google Scholar
Moorhead, Richard. 2007. The Passive Arbiter: Litigants in Person and the Challenge to Neutrality. Social and Legal Studies 16 (3): 405–24.Google Scholar
Moorhead, Richard, and Cowan, Dave. 2007. Judgecraft: An Introduction. Social and Legal Studies 16:315–20.Google Scholar
Morgan, Rod, and Russell, Neil. 2000. The Judiciary in the Magistrates' Courts. Home Office (UK), Miscellaneous RDS Publications, Occasional Paper 66. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/occ‐judiciary.pdf (accessed August 28, 2009).Google Scholar
Mulcahy, Linda. 2007. Architects of Justice: The Politics of Courtroom Design. Social and Legal Studies 16 (3): 383–403.Google Scholar
O'Brien, Gregory C. Jr. 2004. Confessions of an Angry Judge. Judicature 87 (5): 251–53.Google Scholar
Philips, Susan U. 1998. Ideology in the Language of Judges: How Judges Practice Law, Politics and Courtroom Control, Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, Timothy, Tranter, Bruce, Mitchell, Deborah, Clark, Juliet, and Reed, Ken. 2007. Australian Survey of Social Attitudes. Australian National University, Canberra: ACSPRI Centre for Social Research.Google Scholar
Ptacek, James. 1999. Battered Women in the Courtroom: The Power of Judicial Responses. Boston: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Regan, Francis. 2003. Does Recent Empirical Research Shed New Light on Australia's Legal Aid Scheme? University of Brunswick Law Journal 52:123–42.Google Scholar
Ross, Ysaiah. 2005. Ethics in Law: Lawyer's Responsibility and Accountability in Australia, 4th ed. Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths.Google Scholar
Sarat, Austin. 1977. Judging in Trial Courts: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Politics 39 (2): 368–98.Google Scholar
Shaman, Jeffrey M. 1996. The Impartial Judge: Detachment or Passion? DePaul Law Review 45:605–32.Google Scholar
State of California Commission on Judicial Performance. Information Pamphlet. http://cjp.ca.gov/index.php?id=4 (accessed August 28, 2009).Google Scholar
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision. 2007. Report on Government Services 2007. Canberra: Australian Government Productivity Commission. http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/rogs/2007 (accessed August 14, 2009).Google Scholar
Tait, David. 2002. Sentencing and Performance: Restoring Drama to the Courtroom. In Sentencing and Society: International perspectives, ed. Tata, Cyrus and Hutton, Neil, 469–80. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Tarr, G. Alan. 2003. Judicial Process and Judicial Policymaking, 3rd ed. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Travers, Max. 2006. Understanding Talk in Legal Settings: What Law and Society Studies Can Learn From a Conversation Analyst. Law & Social Inquiry 31 (2): 447–65.Google Scholar
Travers, Max. 2007. Sentencing in the Children's Court: An Ethnographic Perspective. Youth Justice 7 (1): 21–35.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 1984. The Role of Perceived Injustice in Defendants' Evaluations of Their Courtroom Experiences. Law and Society Review 18 (1): 51–74.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 1988. What Is Procedural Justice? Criteria Used by Citizens to Assess the Fairness of Legal Procedures. Law and Society Review 22 (1): 103–35.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 1990. Why People Obey the Law. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Tyler, Tom R. 2003. Procedural Justice, Legitimacy and the Effective Rule of Law. Crime and Justice 30:283–357.Google Scholar
Wilson, Ashleigh. 2005. $1M to Oust “Sour” Magistrate. The Australian, July 6, 3.Google Scholar
Wood, David. 1996. Judicial Ethics: A Discussion Paper. Carlton: Australian Institute of Judicial Administration Inc. Google Scholar

Cases Cited

Dietrich v. R[1992] HCA 57 (November 13, 1992); 177 CLR 292. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/57.html.Google Scholar
Magistrates Court of Victoria v. Robinson[2000] VSCA 198 (October 24, 2000); 2 VR 233. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VSCA/2000/198.html.Google Scholar
Were v. Police[2003] SASC 116 (April 11, 2003); 227 LSJS 6. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/sa/SASC/2003/116.html.Google Scholar