WP2 Review of need

start date month 2 – closing date month 36

WP LEADER: CENTER for the STUDY of DEMOCRACY

WP 2 aims at exploring the need for European-wide social indicators of public confidence in justice for policy assessment. It also examines the state of current tools. This will involve a cross-national review of Member States’ and European initiatives for the assessment of the level of public confidence in justice and the surrounding social, legal and criminological factors that help a profound understanding of public confidence. WP 2 will (a) review the policy-need for such indicators, (b) assess the social scientific literature on confidence in justice, and (c) catalogue existing indicators that have been used at national and supra-national levels.

The following tasks will be carried out in WP2:

Task 2.1: Review of the importance of public confidence as a tool for policy assessment

This task will involve a review of perceived need amongst scientists, criminal justice managers and government officials for a set of indicators built around these concepts. This task will identify whether any viable set of indicators of confidence in justice have been used, and will identify the concepts that underpin the system. It will also assess what contribution these indicator systems have made to domestic policies on crime.

This task will be completed through a survey of key representatives of the target groups (scientists, criminal justice managers and government officials) from the different countries represented in the project. For that purpose a questionnaire will be developed and disseminated to a list of respondents determined in advance.

Task 2.2: Literature review

This task will involve a systematic literature review of the key European and North American research on confidence in justice (defined broadly). The task will be subdivided into sections on “trust in justice” and “insecurity and fear of crime”. It will identify and define concepts, describe the empirical relationships, and their “drivers”.

Although the main aim of the literature review is to feed into subsequent elements of WP2, a bibliography will be maintained and regularly updated during the course of the project.

Task 2.3: Current indicators of public confidence – National efforts

This task will assess the measurement of confidence in justice in domestic initiatives such as the use of the British and Scottish Crime Surveys in the UK, and the Dutch and Belgian National Police Monitors. It will investigate whether national indicators are robust and statistically validated and will assess whether they can be transposed to other countries.

Task 2.4: Current indicators of public confidence – Supra-national efforts

This task will assess the measurement of confidence in justice in international initiatives such as the International Crime and Victimisation Survey and the European Social Survey (ESS). It will also investigate why, although social indicators are an increasing part of EU policy development, Europe still lacks high-quality comparative data and indicators on confidence and insecurity.

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