The Impact Of Public Opinion On Sentencing

Public opinion is the objective existence; it contains plain sense of justice and sense of general application. With the enhancement of public legal awareness of and rights awareness as well as the rapid development of mass media, public opinion may become involved in the administration of justice. Public opinion in some cases leads to a fair verdict; meanwhile it also triggers a controversy whether public opinion should be taken into account in judicial practice. Ignoring the national and political situation as well as the impact of traditional culture, and being in disregard of public opinion proves unwise. Pointing to the same target, administration of justice and public opinion should not be antagonistic, but be mutually reinforcing. The law which is in line with public opinion is worth being trusted and abided by; the verdict which reflects public opinion will be well accepted. The administration of justice absorbs an effective public opinion with great prudence, which actually conforms to the demand of judicial democracy and fit into the criteria of judicial justice, only through which the true meaning of the law will be realized and the drawback of the law's lagging behind the life will be conquered. Public opinion itself is not sufficient to interfere with administration of justice, only that absorbed in power factors can influence the sentencing activities. The administration of justice referring to public opinion is caused by its dependence, however; to introduce public intervention system can help the administration of justice resist against the interference of administration. Public involvement in the administration of justice must be limited, legal and rational. The administration of justice needs to pay much more attention to public opinion about the accused and procedure. Democratization of the administration of justice and judicial career should be the focus of current judicial reform. Democratization of the administration of justice requires that the judge should establish a judicial philosophy and an active concept of justice. According to the requirements of harmonious administration of justice, it is quite necessary to activate the "jury system." supported by complementary mechanisms; we need to push reasoning effectively in verdict process, hence the positive interaction between public opinion and the administration of justice.