We investigate theoretically and experimentally how the existence of an appeal system influences the judicial effort of judges in the trial court. We assume that judges care about correct decisions and face reputation losses in case of reversals by the appeal court. Our model suggests that the...

In criminal cases the task of the judge is to transform the uncertainty about the facts into the certainty of the verdict. In this experiment we examine the relationship between evidence of which the strength is known, subjective probability of guilt and verdict for abstract cases. We look at...