Thread: Russian legal system: the Russian perspective

Originally Posted by Hanna

Btw, does Russia have jury trials?

Yes. They were launched in 1993. They applicable if crime is heavy and accused makes request for it.

Originally Posted by Alex80

Yes. They were launched in 1993. They applicable if crime is heavy and accused makes request for it.

I think it's a good idea in Russia to offer jury trials as an option, since a lot of people are very suspicious of the state. To involve regular people may add an extra checkpoint.
It doesn't solve all the problems, of course, but at least it offers an extra layer of external visibility and protection for the accused.

I think a lot of people in the US too, have a suspicious view of the state, but for different reasons than the Russians. So it makes sense that the US also uses this system. In Europe, I know only of the UK using it, and I do not know why or what the background is. It's only used in criminal cases.

In Northern Europe, most people trust the state more than they trust their fellow citizens ("state is always good and always knows best...")
So jury trials are not used. The general opinion is that only the state can truly be trusted to make an accurate judgement regarding somebody's guilt, whereas regular people would get confused or emotional - so can't be fully trusted to be objective.

Lately some people started feeling that some judgements are political, for example in connection with some filesharing cases (where many thought the government had decided beforehand, what the verdict should be), and cases to do with criminality by immigrants.

Was there a public debate about jury trials at the time, in Russia, or how come it was suddenly introduced in 1993?