ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between procedural justice and legitimacy, and argues that both concepts should be understood as social/relational and contextual. The chapter discusses empirical research demonstrating that while procedural justice is important for legitimacy, citizens assess the legitimacy of criminal justice authorities with reference to three additional basic legitimation expectations: lawfulness, distributive justice, and effectiveness. The importance of these factors can vary in different social and situational contexts, and therefore no single factor best promotes legitimacy in every context. The chapter also draws attention to empirical research that demonstrates the influence of social/relational and contextual variables on judgements of legitimacy. In conclusion, the chapter proposes that procedural justice research should attend more closely to the complex contextual variability of judgements of legitimacy.
