Media Release
31 August 2011
The Sentencing Advisory Council has released a report today that indicates people’s perceptions of crime can predict how confident they are in the courts and the legal system.
Predictors of Confidence: Community Views in Victoria is the fourth paper in a series about findings from a national survey that canvassed community views on issues to do with crime, the courts and sentencing.
The study found that members of the Victorian public are moderately confident in the courts and in judges’ ability to impose appropriate sentences. In the study, victims of crime were found to have the lowest level of confidence and people who did not perceive that crime levels had been increasing were found to have the highest levels.
The study also suggests that confidence in the courts is improving, with 59% of respondents in this survey saying they were fairly confident or very confident in the courts and the legal system. This is compared to a 2003 Australian study in which 70% of respondents reported not very much or no confidence in the courts and legal system.
Professor Arie Freiberg, Chair of the Sentencing Advisory Council said, 'It is critical to the effective functioning of the criminal justice system that the public have confidence in courts. If confidence is low, people are less likely to bring their conflicts to court or to participate in the system as witnesses or jurors. This research seeks to understand the factors that underlie low levels of confidence, so as to assist policy-makers in developing initiatives to improve confidence.
'One of the most interesting findings of this study is how much of a role perceptions of crime play in people’s confidence. We found that people who were less educated, had a lower income, positioned themselves to the right politically, and who use commercial or tabloid media were more likely to perceive that crime had increased. In turn, people who perceived crime had increased were more likely to be punitive, and finally, those who were more punitive were more likely to have lower levels of confidence', said Professor Freiberg.
Predictors of Confidence: Community Views in Victoria is available for download from the Sentencing Advisory Council website.
