ABSTRACT
One often hears and reads in the media that the criminal justice system is too lenient and that offenders are not treated as harshly as they deserve. On the other hand, judges respond that the public does not know enough about the law and the details of the individual criminal cases and is accordingly unable to express a reasoned opinion. In order to reconcile these two extreme positions, we will first try to determine if the so-called leniency of the judges, according to the public, corresponds to the reality of the public opinion. If this is the case, we shall examine why, and how, the gap between public and judges could be filled.
