Prosecutorial Sentence Recommendations: Preliminary Results

• In Event: Exploring horizons of sentencing research with new data and methods

Abstract

European sentencing researchers have focused primarily on judicial sentence imposition in the last several decades. Yet, sentencing is a complex and dynamic process influenced by the judge and other actors and interactions between them. Recent studies suggest that the sentence the prosecutor recommends significantly influences the judges’ sentencing decisions. Moreover, with continental prosecutors gaining more power and discretion, including prosecutors in the sentencing discussion is increasingly pertinent.

This paper explores the role of the public prosecutor in the sentencing process. Specifically, it addresses the prosecutorial power to recommend sentences and how these recommendations influence the criminal process and the sentence imposed. Given this area is largely understudied, I first explain the theoretical background and the process of recommending a sentence. I then analyze this process at two prosecutor’s offices in Czechia using empirical data manually coded into a unique dataset. The preliminary findings (i) focus on the type and severity of sanctions recommended in different procedural stages and for different crimes, (ii) discuss the relationship between sentence recommendations and sentences imposed, and (iii) analyze the sentence “discount” in the case of a plea bargain. I aim to explore the yet-understudied topic of prosecutorial sentence recommendations and offer empirical evidence from central Europe.

Author

• Alena Žibřidová, Faculty of Law, Charles University