Balancing legitimacies: efficiency, fairness and the transformation of parole oral hearings

Phillips, J., Peplow, D., Oliver, C. and Purnell, C. (2025) Balancing legitimacies: efficiency, fairness and the transformation of parole oral hearings. British Journal of Criminology. ISSN 1464-3529 doi: 10.1093/bjc/azaf117

Abstract/Summary

This article examines the transformation of parole oral hearings in England and Wales following their shift to remote delivery. Drawing on qualitative interviews and hearing transcripts, it explores how remote hearings affect the legitimacy of parole, focusing on tensions between efficiency, fairness and participation. Using a framework of legitimacy underpinned by Suchman’s concept of procedural, consequential and pragmatic legitimacy, the article analyses how institutional efforts to reduce delay can simultaneously erode the fairness-based underpinnings of oral hearings. It argues that the rapid uptake of technology in response to crisis can produce lasting institutional change, often without sustained scrutiny or re-legitimation.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/127894
Identification Number/DOI	10.1093/bjc/azaf117
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Oxford University Press
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