Courtroom workgroup
Definition
The informal cooperative relationship among judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers who regularly interact in the same court. First described by James Eisenstein and Herbert Jacob (1977), the workgroup norm tends toward efficient disposition, which can pressure defendants to accept pleas rather than insist on trial.
Related terms
- Case attrition
- The cumulative reduction in the number of criminal matters as they pass from offence committed through reporting, recording, charging, and trial to...
- Evidential test
- The threshold question that asks whether there is sufficient admissible evidence to give a realistic or reasonable prospect of conviction. It is...
- Nolle prosequi
- A formal decision by the prosecution to discontinue proceedings against a defendant, often recorded as an entry in the court record. It...
- Plea bargain
- An agreement between prosecution and defence in which the defendant pleads guilty, typically in exchange for a reduced charge, a sentencing concession,...
- Prosecutorial discretion
- The power of a public prosecutor to decide whether to charge a suspect, what charges to bring, and on what terms to...
Explained in
- Prosecution, Courts, and Case AttritionThe informal cooperative relationship among judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers who regularly interact in the same court. First described by James Eisenst...