Courts and Communication

Abstract

Courts have shown an increased interest in communicating with the public through press releases, social media, or their judgments. Additionally, they introduced new mechanisms of social participation as public hearings which enable the courts´ interaction with civil society actors and other stakeholders in the judicial decision-making process. The literature provides two strands of explanations for this court behaviour: From a strategic perspective, courts strengthen their communication with the aim to improve their institutional legitimacy. On the one hand, a higher level of institutional legitimacy helps them to better defend against possible attacks from the elected branches, on the other hand, it enhances compliance with their rulings. From an ideational account, a new conception of the role of courts highlights institutional transparency, increased deliberation and the openness to society. This Panel includes five contributions dealing with the communication of courts and judges in Europe and Latin America. The Papers investigate the use of social media to build judicial reputation, the judges´ communication behaviour outside the courtroom, as well as changing strategies of court communication under the threat of political attacks. Further, they examine the motivations for such court communication and its effects on the institutional legitimacy of courts and on their relationship with the elected branches.

Title	Details
Extra-Judicial Discourse in the United Kingdom	View Paper Details
Judicial Reputation and Social Media	View Paper Details
Latin American Courts Going Public: A Comparative Survey Assessment of Ten Democracies	View Paper Details