Open Access
The elephant in the courtroom : a socio-legal study on how judges manage cultural diversity in criminal law cases in Italy and the UK
Loading...
Files
RSCAS_2017_58.pdf (499.73 KB)
Full-text in Open Access
License
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
1028-3625
Issue Date
Type of Publication
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
EUI RSCAS; 2017/58; Global Governance Programme-285; [Cultural Pluralism]
Cite
PANNIA, Paola, The elephant in the courtroom : a socio-legal study on how judges manage cultural diversity in criminal law cases in Italy and the UK, EUI RSCAS, 2017/58, Global Governance Programme-285, [Cultural Pluralism] - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/49164
Abstract
How do judges manage cases in which offenders belonging to a minority group invoke their cultural background to obtain special legal treatment? What are the outcomes of their judgments and what arguments posited to justify them? This paper attempts to answer these questions, by drawing on the results of socio-legal research aimed at identifying and analysing judicial reasoning (and decisions) in cases from 1993 to 2013 where “cultural arguments” were pleaded by the offender or raised by the judge (i.e. as a motive, justification, excuse, or mitigating or aggravating circumstance), in Italian and English courtrooms. The research reveals a different approach towards diversity management in the Italian and English courtrooms. Embracing strategies of “cultural reductionism” and “cultural denial”, respectively, Italian judges reveal a limited awareness of the complex issues surrounding cultural diversity, while English judges show uneasiness and disorientation in managing the “cultural factor”. The different approaches notwithstanding, results point an interesting convergence: in the absence of policies and tools for managing cultural diversity in the courtroom, Italian and English judges try avoid directly addressing the “cultural question”.