Judges’ perceptions on regional sentencing disparities in Finland

• In Event: Sentencing 6. National and Comparative Perspectives

Abstract

Sentencing research has repeatedly reported between-court disparities, while some studies have managed to link this variation to sentencing judges. However, it has been proposed that theories and empirical research on court communities are imbalanced: most studies have focused on statistical outcomes instead of the processes. Further, focus of the prior studies have been excessively in common law jurisdictions. The aim of the current study is to examine courts as communities through experiences of Finnish judges. The substantial discretionary power of judges combined with the lack of sentencing guidelines makes Finland an interesting ground to study judges’ views of sentencing disparities. Interviews with 14 district judges are analysed using thematic analysis. The findings presented in the seminar shed light on judges’ own perceptions on regional sentencing disparities. Implications of the findings are discussed in the presentation.

Author

• Tiina Malin, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki