Sentencing Hearings in English Crown Courts

Abstract

This study investigates the expressive side of the sentencing hearing in three trials dealing respectively with a charge of battery, of indecent assault and of manslaughter. The communication phases of the sentence have been associated with underlying functions of the judge’s speech and with moments of moralization. The specificity of the case appears in the distancing from the defendant and in the moralizing style of the judges. We discuss the implication of this procedure for the administration of justice and for the defendant.