The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity

Authors

  • Stina Bergman Blix Uppsala University
  • Åsa Wettergren University of Gothenburg

Keywords:

Emotion management, empathy, objectivity, impartiality, Swedish courts, legal professionals, tacit signals, emotional communication, Gestión de emociones, empatía, objetividad, imparcialidad, tribunales suecos, profesionales del derecho, señales tácitas

Abstract

Like other Western legal systems, the Swedish legal system constructs objectivity as an unemotional state of being. We argue that the enactment of objectivity in situ relies on objectivity work including emotion management and empathy. Building on qualitative interviews and observations in Swedish district courts, we analyse courtroom interaction through a dramaturgical lens, highlighting tacit signals and interprofessional emotional communication aimed to secure objective procedures, while sustaining the ideal of unemotional objectivity. By analytically separating objectivity from impartiality, we show that judges’ objective performances balance empathic attunement and restrained expressions to uphold an impartial presentation. Prosecutors take pride in maintaining objectivity in spite of being partial, fostering the ability to switch between engagement and disengagement depending on the strength of the case. The requirement for legal professionals to be autonomous demands skillful inter-professional emotional attuning. Thereby, collaborative professional emotion management achieves the ideal of justice as being objective.

Al igual que otros sistemas jurídicos occidentales, el sueco construye la objetividad como un estado del ser no emocional. Argumentamos que la aplicación de la objetividad in situ se apoya en un trabajo de objetividad que incluye la gestión de las emociones y la empatía. Basándonos en entrevistas cualitativas y en observaciones en juzgados de Suecia, analizamos la interacción que se da en el tribunal, destacando señales tácitas y comunicación emocional interprofesional destinada a asegurar procedimientos objetivos, a la vez que a sostener el ideal de objetividad no emotiva. Al separar analíticamente objetividad de imparcialidad, mostramos que las actuaciones objetivas de los jueces suponen un equilibrio entre la sintonía empática y la contención expresiva para defender una presentación imparcial. El requisito de que los profesionales del derecho sean autónomos demanda una sintonía emocional interprofesional. Por tanto, la gestión emocional colaborativa de los profesionales cumple con el ideal de justicia objetiva.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1031

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Views 408
Downloads:
PDF 246


Author Biographies

Stina Bergman Blix, Uppsala University

Department of Sociology, Associate Professor

Åsa Wettergren, University of Gothenburg

Department of Sociology and Work Science, Professor

Downloads

Published

22-10-2018

How to Cite

Bergman Blix, S. and Wettergren, Åsa (2018) “The Emotional Interaction of Judicial Objectivity”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 9(5), pp. 726–746. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1076 (Accessed: 28 March 2024).

Issue

Section

Social Dynamics of Emotion in Judging