Publication details
Vliv veřejného mínění na rozhodování soudců Ústavního soudu
| Title in English | Influence of public opinion on Constitutional judges´ decision-making |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | COFOLA 2016 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Sborník z Konference COFOLA 2016 |
| Field | Law sciences |
| Keywords | public opinion, judicial decision-making, Constitutional court, extralegal influences |
| Description | What motivates judges as decision makers? While some scholars maintain that judicial decisions are guided more or less by legal considerations (GILLMAN, Howard or DWORKIN, Ronald), others have argued that judges´ decisions are influenced by a number of other factors, including political ideology or public opinion (BAUM, Lawrence). Nevertheless, Czech legislature explicitly defines the obligation to reject any influence or particular interests, including the interests of political parties, public opinion or the media (Section 80, para. 2, Act no. 6/2002 Coll., on Courts and Judges) for all the judges, incl. those from the Czech Constitutional Court. Which motives though really lead judges while decision-making? Paper, based on working version of qualitative research including in-depth interviews with former and present judges of the Constitutional court, focuses on the possible motivation in their decision making. It checks whether the judges in certain cases are not led by the desire to resonate with current public opinion, desire for popularity or public recognition. Vice versa it checks whether judges ignore public opinion or do not follow it at all. Paper points out the findings regarding judicial self-awareness, too – whether the judges are aware of possible influences and their consequences, including e.g. influence of the mass media as a provider of information, opinions or public opinion in a specific form, or phenomenon of spiral of silence (when the majority opinion in a public space visually gets more space than is its real strength which leads to silencing the minority even more) according to Noelle-Neumann. At first, the paper presents general theoretical insights of the term "public opinion" and the connected problems, then the draft interpretation of research results. |