The Acceptance of Court Judgments: The Influence of Procedural and Distributive Justice

Abstract

The research aims to shed light on citizens’ perceptions of judicial procedures by focusing on the appeals procedure in administrative law. Especially, the study tries to clarify which motives might underlie an appeal by a citizen after a negative judgment by the court of first instance. Why does one citizen appeal, while another chooses to end the conflict? Do citizens make this choice in a ‘rational’ fashion, weighing costs and benefits, or does this choice depend on normative considerations, including citizens’ perceptions of fairness?

Keywords: Litigation, administrative proceedings, procedural justice, distributive justice

JEL Classification: K19, K41