Sustaining and fostering legitimacy of criminal justice institutions in the third decade after the velvet revolution
Abstrakt
The article firstly turns to a discussion in the literature of English and American provenience with the aim to analyse the meaning and importance of democratic legitimacy of criminal justice institutions. A special focus is dedicated to the notion of ‘procedural justice‘, i.e. perceived fairness of how these institutions exercise their authority, and supposed limitations of this concept for achieving higher perception of legitimacy and law-abidance among population.
Further, some complementing aims, such as endeavours to reach ‘materially’ just outcomes, or focuses on professionalization and higher efficiency in exercising entrusted powers, are being discussed. The author finally submits that, in order to sustain and foster institutional legitimacy in evolving Czech and Slovak democracies, much more attention has to be paid to ensure that criminal justice institutions, i.e. the police, the public prosecution, the judiciary and the correctional service, exercise their duties in a procedurally just, fair and respectful manner, in consistency with the principle of proportionality, and in an effective and proficient pursuit of security.