The state of art of the research about the influence of gender in judicial decision-making

Abstract

Although judges must make their decisions with total impartiality, social scientists have shown that there is no complete objectivity in adopting them. Judges are influenced by extra-legal issues such as their personal experiences or social stereotypes. In this sense, there are many studies, especially in Anglo-Saxon contexts, that analyse gender's influence in judicial decisions. Most of them conclude that women tend to be treated more leniently than men by judges, resulting in less severe sentences for them. However, there is no consensus on the reasons for this disparity. This paper has two objectives: to review the available scientific knowledge on sentencing and gender; and analyse the reasons that explain the judicial disparity between men and women.