Legitimacy and procedural justice: Where has all the procedure gone?

Procedural justice has become one of the most influential frameworks in criminology and criminal justice. Yet, forgetting its original formulation, contemporary legitimacy research has increasingly focused solely on interpersonal treatment, and, in so, discarded procedure itself. The article revisits the conceptual foundations of procedural justice and legitimacy and draws on three empirical studies conducted in France: a qualitative study of justice-involved individuals’ expectations of attorneys in the post-sentenciam phase; a national mixed-methods study of a purely bureaucratic prisoner release procedure; and a mixed study of French problem-solving programmes. Across these studies, the procedural dimensions of procedural justice emerged as central concerns for justice-involved individuals. This article thus argues that procedural justice is inherently dual in nature, comprising both behavioural and procedural dimensions. More broadly, it argues that overlooking procedure risks obscuring the effects of the increasing bureaucratisation of criminal justice and its implications for democratic governance.