What is Procedural Justice?

Procedural Justice is the extent to which a person, or a group of people, perceive process and decision making by others in authority to be fair and just.

People start to make judgments about the use of authority in their very first contact with the authority figure. Think of a new starter to your organisation as a good example and how they will make judgments of you, their line manager and the organisation more broadly. They will view the person or organisation as more legitimate, and respect them or it more, if procedural justice is in place. They are more likely to continue to engage, even when outcomes of decisions or processes are not favourable or worse for them personally.

It is important to pause briefly and consider ‘authority’ here. Procedural justice has its roots in criminology, but as I have said it is relevant in all that we do, in multiple settings, in and out of work. Whilst authority in a criminal justice sense maybe the police, courts, or prisons anyone working as an authority figure needs to work in a procedurally just way.

As I develop this newsletter, I define authority as anyone who has the power to make a decision that will impact on someone else. So, some examples, and this list is not exhaustive so apply some discretion to your own situation; if you are someone who has the authority to sign off on purchases or expenses, makes decisions about budget spend, where an event will be hosted, carry out performance reviews or appraisals, promotes people, affects pay rates, is a leader, manager, supervisor, coach, or mentor, then you carry authority and therefore your decisions or processes must be procedural just.

There are four elements of procedural justice, they are as follows:

• Voice – being allowed to talk about things from your perspective, telling your own story and being listened to
• Respect – being treated with respect
• Neutrality – not being judged by others, the authority figure should not prejudge what may or may not have happened or what may or may not be an outcome
• Trust – that there is collective trust within processes decisions or institutions, that this is not undermined by culture for example

All these elements combine to make a system, process, or decision procedurally just. I will unpack each aspect in a future issue, dealing with each in turn and then bring them together.

So let me explain how procedural justice works in a court setting as an example.

Criminal Justice Setting

A person is stopped by the police for breaking the speed limit in their car. Their speed is sever enough for it to be dealt with in a local court. For the hearing to be procedurally just all elements detailed above need to be present.

The defendant (as they are now) needs to have time to present their defence, to tell their side of the story, to be heard.

They also need to be with treated with respect. We all have our own measure of respect, but basic elements include a due regard for the feelings of others, their wishes, or their rights.

Any indication that a decision has been predetermined will undermine a procedurally just process. The court must hold true to the principles of natural justice and wait to conclude once all evidence and representations have been made.

The defendant must trust the system to do all that it says it will do – any failing in the first three elements detailed above will erode any trust the defendant might have in the court.

Research tells us that if all these elements are in place and a person feels they have had a voice, have been treated with respect, have not been prejudged and that they trust the process/institution/person then, in theory, you can give a maximum sanction and they will feel happy with the outcome.

Imagine that the court has a range of sanctions from low through medium to high. If an outcome, which is procedurally just, is handed down by the court and a maximum sanction is awarded then the person will feel that they have had a fair outcome. Conversely the most lenient outcome could be given to the defendant, but if a process is not seen by them as being procedurally just then they will feel hard done by.

This applies to all elements of our work – think of a process or decision you have been the recipient of recently and apply these principles, how did it make you feel, did you feel hard done by, not treated properly, left in the dark? If so, there is a very strong chance that one or more element of procedural justice was missing. Procedural justice is about the fairness and the?transparency?of the processes by which decisions are made. That is what I hope to help you with over the next few months.

Next time I will start to look at the first of the elements of procedural justice - voice. Please leave any comments below. This is the first time I have done anything like this and so would value your (procedurally just) feedback.