Like other modern-day democracies, Belgium has in the last quarter century introduced many changes in its system for justice administration, by undertaking judicial reforms and commissioning empirical research on public confidence. Following long years of fierce criticism of the police and the criminal justice system since the late 1980s, the turn of the century witnessed three quantitative surveys (the Justice Barometers) in 2002, 2007 and 2010. These were complemented by several qualitative studies in specific districts or with specific groups. Although many variables appear to exert some influence on public confidence, the one that emerges time and again is the degree of contact with the justice system and the ensuing negative perceptions that result from it. This contribution describes the most salient findings of this decade of public opinion research on the criminal justice system in Belgium and reflects on the implications for judicial policy-making.
Billiet J and Waeghe H (eds) (2001) Een samenleving onderzocht. Methoden van sociaalwetenschappelijk onderzoek [Researching Society: Methods of Social Science Research]. Antwerp: De Boeck.
2.
Crespi I. ( 1997) The Public Opinion Process. How the People Speak. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3.
Elchardus M. and Smits W. ( 2002) Anatomie en oorzaken van het wantrouwen [Anatomy and Origins of Distrust]. Brussels: VUB Press .
4.
Fagan RW ( 1987) Knowledge and support for the criminal justice system , Criminal Justice Review12(2): 27-33.
5.
Fijnaut C., Van Daele D. and Parmentier S. ( 2000) Een openbaar ministerie voor de 21ste eeuw [A Public Prosecutor’s Service for the 21st Century]. Leuven: Leuven University Press.
6.
Flanagan TJ ( 2003) Public opinion, crime and justice: an American perspective . Paper presented at the International Conference on Public Opinion and the Administration of Justice, Leuven , 25-27 September.
7.
Flanagan TJ and Longmire DR (eds) (1996) Americans’ View on Crime and Justice. A National Public Opinion Survey. London: Sage Publications.
8.
Foblets M-C., Martiniello M., Parmentier S., et al. (2004) Wat denken personen van vreemde origine over recht en gerecht in België? Les populations d’origine immigrée face au droit en Belgique [What Do Persons of Foreign Origin Think of the Law and the Administration of Justice in Belgium?]. Ghent : Academia Press.
9.
Foblets M-C., Martiniello M., Parmentier S. and Vervaeke G. ( 2007) How do foreigners and immigrants in Belgium view the legal system? Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law21(4): 263-283.
10.
Goethals J., Lemaitre A., Doutrelepont R., et al. (2005) Justitie in vraag gesteld. De ‘justitiebarometer’ voorbij: een kwalitatief onderzoek / La Justice en question. Après le ‘baromètre de la Justice’: une recherche qualitative [The Justice System Questioned. Beyond the ‘Justice Barometer’: A Qualitative Research]. Ghent: Academia Press.
11.
Henderson ML, Cullen FT, Cao L., et al. (1997) The impact of race on perceptions of criminal justice. Journal of Criminal Justice25(6): 447-462.
12.
Hertogh M.(2011) Loyalists, cynics and outsiders: Who are the critics of the justice system in the UK and the Netherlands?International Journal of Law in Context7(1): 31-46.
13.
Hoge Raad voor de Justitie / Conseil Supérieur de la Justice (2007) De Belgen en justitie in 2007. Resultaten van de tweede justitiebarometer / Les Belges et la justice en 2007. Résultats du deuxième baromètre de la Justice [Belgians and the Justice System in 2007. The Results of the Second Justice Barometer]. Brussels: Bruylant.
14.
Hoge Raad voor de Justitie / Conseil Supérieur de la Justice (2010) De Belgen en justitie in 2010. Resultaten van de derde justitiebarometer / Les Belges et la justice en 2010. Résultats du troisième baromètre de la Justice [Belgians and the Justice System in 2010. The Results of the Third Justice Barometer]. Ghent: Story Publishers.
15.
Jokinen A, Ruuskanen E, Yordanova M, et al. (eds) (2009) Review of Need: Indicators of Public Confidence in Criminal Justice for Policy Assessment. Justis Project Working Papers. Helsinki: Heuni. Also available at http://www.eurojustis.eu/.
16.
Kvale S. ( 1996) Interviews: an Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
Morgan DL ( 1998) The Focus Group Guide Book. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
Parmentier S. ( 1997) De verwachtingen van de burgers ten aanzien van justitie. Een selecte inventaris van bestaand onderzoeksmateriaal in binnen- en buitenland. [The expectations of citizens vis-à-vis the justice system. A select inventory of existing research at the national and the international level] . Unpublished paper. King Baudouin Foundation, Brussels.
19.
Parmentier S. and Van Houtte J. ( 2003) Law, Justice and Social Change in the 21st Century. The Case of Belgium. Brussels: King Baudouin Foundation.
20.
Parmentier S., Fijnaut C. and Van Daele D. ( 2000) From Sisyphus to Octopus: Towards a modern public prosecutor’s office in Belgium. European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice8: 154-186.
21.
Parmentier S., Vervaeke G., Goethals J., et al. (2004a) Justitie doorgelicht. De resultaten van de eerste Belgische ‘justitiebarometer’ [Auditing Justice. The Results of the First Belgian ‘Justice Barometer’]. Ghent: Academia Press.
22.
Parmentier S., Vervaeke G., Goethals J., et al. (2004b) Une radiographie de la justice. Les resultats du premier ‘baromètre de la Justice’ en Belgique. Ghent: Academia Press.
23.
Parmentier S, Vervaeke G , Doutrelepont R and Kellens G (eds) (2004c) Public Opinion and the Administration of Justice. Popular Perceptions and Their Implications for Policy-making in Western Countries. Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Leuven 25-27 September 2003. Brussels: Politeia Press.
24.
Roberts J and Hough M (eds) (2002) Changing Attitudes to Punishment. Public Opinion, Crime and Justice. Cullompton: Willan Publishing.
25.
Schoffelen J., Parmentier S. and Vervaeke G. ( 2006) Wat denken burgers over justitie? [What do citizens think about the justice system?]. In: Reynaert H , Vandewalle S and Verlet D (eds) Naar een DJ-overheid? Burgers en hun overheid [Citizens and Their Public Administrations]. Bruges: Vandenbroele, 129-156.
26.
Toharia JJ ( 2003) Evaluating systems of justice through public opinion: Why, what, who, how and what for? In: Jensen EG and Thomas E (eds) Beyond Common Knowledge: Empirical Approaches to the Rule of Law. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 21-62.
27.
Van Campenhoudt L. and Cartuyvels Y. ( 2000) La justice en questions. Concept d’enquête sur les attentes des citoyens à l’égard de la justice . Brussels: Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis.
28.
Van Damme A., Pauwels L., Pleysier S. and Van de Velde M. ( 2010) Beelden van vertrouwen: het vertrouwen in politie en justitie in perspectief geplaatst [Images of confidence: Confidence in police and justice put in perspective]. Orde van de dag52: 7-20.
29.
Wyseur L., Schoffelen J., Vervaeke G., et al. (2005) Justitie onder de loep. De publieke opinie ten aanzien van justitie [Justice from close by. Public opinion vis-à-vis the justice system]. Rechtskundig Weekblad68: 841-851.
