SCCEI Seminar Series (Fall 2026)

Wednesday, December 2, 2026 | 12:00 pm -1:20 pm Pacific Time
Goldman Room E409, Encina Hall, 616 Jane Stanford Way

Beyond the Bench: Prosecutors, Lawyers, and Repression in Autocratic Courts

Conventional wisdom holds that autocrats' successful use of the judiciary for repression depends on judges' compliance. This study, however, contends that such compliance is neither assured nor always required for judicial repression to occur. Even without fully compliant judges, the regime can still advance its repressive goals by assigning more experienced, better-resourced prosecutors to dissident cases and by capitalizing on dissidents' greater reliance on government-provided legal aid for their defense. We empirically test this argument in Hong Kong, where thousands of protesters have been prosecuted since the failed pro-democracy movements in 2019. Drawing on original individual-level data from all criminal cases adjudicated in the city's District Court between 2020 and 2023, we find strong evidence supporting our argument. The findings underscore the understudied yet pivotal roles of prosecutors and defense lawyers in enabling authoritarian repression and broaden our understanding of how judicial institutions can be used for repression in these regimes.

About the Speaker 
 

Professor Ji Yeon (Jean) Hong is a political scientist working on the political economy of authoritarianism, with particular attention to East Asia. She is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and Korea Foundation Chair Professor of Korean Politics at the Nam Center for Korean Studies, International Institute, University of Michigan.

Hong has various ongoing research projects related to the legacy of the authoritarian past, the long-term impact of political violence, challenges to democracy during state-building, and the determinants of elite behavior and government policies under authoritarianism. Her research has been published or is forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Politics, and Political Science Research and Methods, among others.

She is currently serving as an associate editor for the Political Science Research and Methods. Previously, she was an Associate Professor (2020-2022) and Assistant Professor (2014-2020) at the Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She obtained her Ph.D. in the Department of Politics at New York University. Before NYU, she studied political science, economics (BA), and international relations (MS) at Seoul National University.

Questions? Contact Xinmin Zhao at xinminzhao@stanford.edu