JUDGES’ SOCIAL BACKGROUNDS AND JUDICIAL DECISION-MAKING

Although the focus of judicial decisions is on laws and evidence, other factors also play crucial roles. Judges' social background is one such factor hypothetically influencing judicial decision-making. The present study seeks to determine whether, based on statistical and empirical evidence, a correspondence can be detected between the judges’ social background and their judicial decisions. Does a judge's financial situation, for example, affect his or her judicial decisions? This essay will argue that a judge' social background, including his religious tendencies, education, gender, race, age and experience, employment background, financial status, and political affiliations, can influence his or her judicial decisions. Using descriptive-analytical method, the present study tries, first, to achieve a coherent understanding of this issue by analyzing the researches already carried out on the judges' social backgrounds and, in the next step, to provide solutions to minimize this unconscious impact. The solutions presented in this research fall into two categories: personal strategies and structural strategies. In the first category, our goal will be to strengthen the epistemological powers of judges, while in the second, we will suggest ways to minimize the impact of judges' social backgrounds by structurally reforming the judiciary.