Europe's New Jury Systems: The Cases of Spain and Russia

Retributive Justice: Its Social Context

“…It is worth noting that Spanish law allows victims of crimes or their survivors to hire lawyers and prosecute cases as third parties in criminal trial proceedings and a rough similarity is also built into new Russian laws ( Thaman, 2000). An interesting question is whether these procedures ameliorate victims' feelings that retributive justice is unrequited in the legal process.…”

Decision Making by Juries and Judges: International Perspectives

“…One of the key provisions of the 1993 Russian Jury Law was to strip judges of their inquisitorial duty to dominate the questioning of defendants and witnesses. Nonetheless, Russian judges are still allowed to intervene with questions after the parties have finished their questioning and judges have apparently maintained a dominant, inquisitorial stance (Thaman, 1999). One wonders what impact this active intervention on the part of judges will have on Russian jurors.…”

“…Rather, like some civil juries in the US that answer 'special verdict' forms, Russian and Spanish juries are presented with a series of discrete questions or propositions about the evidence (Thaman, 1999). Spanish judges prepare a list of propositions at the end of trial, some favorable to the defendant and others favorable to the prosecution.…”

European Systems of Jury Trial

“…However, if a new jury faces with the same problem, a judge has an obligation to acquit a defendant. 23 In any case, when the jury votes that defendant is not guilty for the crime, a judge is obliged to order his immediately release (Article 67 LOJ).…”