Six out of ten judges underestimate the actual time convicts spend in prison, a study by VUB and UCLouvain has found.
The study surveyed 110 judges across Belgium about how they determine sentences. Among them, 20% believed convicts with long sentences serve only one-third of their time, while 40% estimated the actual time falls between one-third and half of the sentence.
This is an underestimation, researchers say, pointing out that more than half of convicts serve over half their sentence. Additionally, the number of prisoners who complete their full sentence has been rising.
The study suggests this misconception may lead judges to hand down heavier sentences, either consciously or unconsciously, due to doubts about the enforcement of their rulings.
