Citizen-state interactions in the justice sector in France and Belgium

Dr. Stéphane Moyson  (Université Catholique de Louvain) and Dr. Cecile Vigour  (French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)) and ASU Fulbright Visiting Scholar Spring 2024

 What are the impacts of the managerialization of the judicial system on citizen-state interactions?

Dr. Stéphane Moyson will address this question on the basis of a campaign of 20 semi-structured interviews with first-line judges in Belgium (in charge of minor litigations or police). Adopting the perspective of street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky, 2010), the research examines how, within judicial organizations, first-line judges cope with increasing workload, individually and collectively. New positions of first-line managers (held by judges) have also been created: the relations between these new managers and the judges are examined. To conclude, the next steps of this research program will be presented.

What is the basis of citizens’ confidence in justice, of its authority and legitimacy?

From a policy feedback perspective, Dr. Cecile Vigour will examine how citizens perceive the justice system and policies in France, and how their judicial experiences fuel or undermine the confidence they have in justice, and affect the authority and legitimacy of the judicial institution. The general high level of trust in judges, police officers and lawyers is counterbalanced by much more mixed assessments of the institution, and mainly of the organization, and some professional practices. This research is based on a mixed research design: 17 focus groups (80 participants in all) and a quantitative survey (N=2370).