Overview
“Juries, Lay Judges, and Trials” describes the widespread practice of including ordinary citizens as legal decision makers in the criminal trial. In some countries, lay persons serve as jurors and determine the guilt and occasionally the punishment of the accused. In others, citizens decide cases together with professional judges in mixed decision-making bodies. What is more, a number of countries have introduced or reintroduced systems employing juries or lay judges, often as part of comprehensive reform in emerging democracies. Becoming familiar with the job of the juror or lay citizen in a criminal trial is thus essential for understanding contemporary criminal justice systems in many countries. This entry reviews procedures for selecting jurors and lay judges and outlines lay participation in fact finding and in sentencing phases of the criminal trial. It also assesses the promises and challenges of lay participation in law. Reviewing and evaluating the effects of the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsRecommended Reading and References
Anand S, Manweiller H (2005) Stress and the Canadian criminal trial jury: a critical review of the literature and the options for dealing with juror stress. Crim Law Q 50:403–440
Butler D (2007) Trial by jury: the hours are long, the benefits are lousy and the work is highly stressful. The Ottawa citizen B1
Catellani P, Milesi P (2006) Juries in Italy: legal and extra-legal norms in sentencing. In: Kaplan MF, Martín AM (eds) Understanding world jury systems through social psychological research. Psychology Press, New York
Chopra SR (2002) Juror stress: sources, severity, and solutions. Ph.D. dissertation, Simon Fraser University
Corey Z, Hans VP (2010) Japan’s new lay judge system: deliberative democracy in action? Asian Pacific Law Policy J 12:72–94
Diamond SS (1993) What jurors think: expectations and reactions of citizens who serve as jurors. In: Litan RE (ed) Verdict: assessing the civil jury system. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC
Dickson-Gilmore EJ, La Prairie C (2005) Will the circle be unbroken? Aboriginal communities, restorative justice, and the challenges of conflict and change. University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Fukurai H (2011) Japan’s quasi-jury and grand jury systems as deliberative agents of social change: de-colonial strategies and deliberative participatory democracy. Chicago Kent Law Rev 86:789–829
Gastil J, Deess EP, Weiser PJ, Simmons C (2010) The jury and democracy: how jury deliberation promotes civic engagement and political participation. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Goldbach TS (2010) Sentencing circles, clashing worldviews, and the case of Christopher Pauchay. Illumine 9(2):53–76
Hans VP (2008) Jury systems around the world. Annu Rev Law Soc 4:275–297
Hans VP, Germain CM (2011) The French jury at a crossroads. Chicago Kent Law Rev 86:737–768
Kaplan MF, Martín AM, Hertel J (2006) Issues and prospects in European juries: an overview. In: Kaplan MF, Martín AM (eds) Understanding world jury systems through social psychological research. Psychology Press, New York
Kim S, Park J, Park K, Eom J (2013) Judge-jury agreement in criminal cases: the first three years of the Korean jury system. J Empir Leg Stud 10:35–53
King NJ, Noble RL (2004) Felony jury sentencing in practice: a three-state study. Vanderbilt Law Rev 57:885–964
Kovalev N (2010) Criminal justice reform in Russia, Ukraine, and the former republics of the Soviet Union. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston
Kutnjak Ivković S (2007) Exploring lay participation in legal decision-making: lessons from mixed tribunals. Cornell Int Law J 40(2):429–454
Lempert R (2007) The internationalization of lay legal decision-making: jury resurgence and jury research. Cornell Int Law J 40:477–488
Malsch M (2009) Democracy in the courts: lay participation in European criminal justice systems. Ashgate, Farnham
Marder NS (ed) (2011) Symposium on comparative jury systems. Chicago-Kent Law Rev 86(2):449–853
Martin D (2002) Lessons about justice from the “laboratory” of wrongful convictions: tunnel vision, the construction of guilt and informer evidence. UMKC Law Rev 70:847–864
National Center for State Courts (1998) Through the eyes of the juror: a manual for addressing juror stress. Willamsburg, NCSC Publication No. R-209
National Center for State Courts Jury Topic Page, available at http://www.ncsc.org/Topics/Jury.aspx
Park R (2010) The globalizing jury trial: lessons and insights from Korea. Am J Comp Law 58:525–582
Tanovich DM, Paciocco DM, Skurka S (1997) Jury selection in criminal trials: skills, science, and the law. Irwin Law, Concord
Thaman SC (2011) Should criminal juries give reasons for their verdicts?: The Spanish experience and the implications of the European court of human rights decision in Taxquet v Belgium. Chicago Kent Law Rev 86:613–668
The Jury and Democracy Project website, available at http://www.la1.psu.edu/cas/jurydem/
Tocqueville AD (1945) Democracy in America (trans: Phillips B, Reeve H, Bowen, F). A. A. Knopf, New York. French edition: Tocqueville AD (1835) De la dÕmocratie en AmÕrique. C. Gosselin, Paris
Vidmar N (2000) World jury systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Vidmar N, Hans VP (2007) American juries: the verdict. Prometheus, Amherst
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Goldbach, T.S., Hans, V.P. (2014). Juries, Lay Judges, and Trials. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_39
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law