Any person who can be selected by a special computer program of a subject can become a jury judge. This event takes place once every four years. In the case when the citizen was chosen by jury, but due to life circumstances he cannot participate in the trial, it is necessary to inform about this. A person simply does not have the right to refuse to participate in the process without good reason.
Definition
Jurors are citizens who participate in the trial as lay judges, decide on the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and issue their verdict.
Most people living in the state show their confidence in the jury, not the professional judges, because the latter may be somehow interested in the outcome of the case, while the assessors are random persons and can objectively assess the whole picture of the crime. This is the whole point of civil society.
The jury is less susceptible to corruption and enables ordinary people to administer justice, but only if they are suitable for this role in accordance with all legislative norms.
Jurors are, first of all, the most ordinary citizens who are appointed to the role of judges to participate in the case by the will of fate. Thus, they should prove themselves only in the best way and in practice show that a court with their participation is possible not only in cases of certain categories, but also in all crimes committed by persons.
Jury members
In this case, the consideration of criminal cases is carried out by a jury and a professional judge, who without fail takes any decision of the assessors. In this case, the presiding judge considers all the nuances of the case from a legal point of view and qualifies the entire criminal act in full, and the jury only renders their verdict, which indicates the answers to the questions posed to them.
In the criminal process involved:
- professional judge;
- defender;
- public prosecutor;
- assessors (non-professional judges in the amount of 12 people).
The foremen, who will communicate with the presiding judge, the jury choose from their own circle. He voices the verdict, adopted by all assessors unanimously.
Legislative regulation
All jury activity is enshrined in federal law of August 20, 2004 No. 113-, which is called "On jurors of federal courts of general jurisdiction in the Russian Federation." And also in the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prescribes all the detailed information on the proper conduct of the case by the assessors, their rights and obligations, the procedure for interaction between the presiding judge and the jury in the court session.
Candidate Requirements
The persons who will administer justice as assessors are selected by random selection using a computer program, after which lists are formed by the highest executive authority. This procedure is performed once every four years. There are only two lists - this is the general and the spare.
A jury candidate must have the following criteria:
- be over the age of 25;
- not have a criminal record, if it is withdrawn or canceled, the person has every right to become a jury;
- not be registered with a psychiatrist and narcologist;
- Be a citizen of your state and speak Russian;
- not have physical disabilities;
- It is not under investigation, in other words, it should not have the status of a suspect or accused of atrocity.
In the event that a person is suitable in all respects for the role of an unprofessional judge, then he must be approved by jury.
Cases of participation in the case
Jurors take part in a trial in a court of first instance only if the person who is accused of committing grave or especially grave atrocities expresses his desire.
Grave crimes are recognized only for those crimes for which the punishment reaches no more than 10 years of isolation from society. Particularly serious are acts that entail punishment for more than 10 years in prison.
If the defendant did not petition for a jury trial, in this case the trial is conducted by a professional judge on the basis of Article 30 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Motivated Failure
A citizen who has been elected a jury cannot just take and refuse to participate in the trial, because working in court as an assessor is his direct and legislative duty. Because jurors are randomly chosen lay judges who can disinterestedly and objectively make decisions that directly affect the fate of a person, acquit him or convict him. But sometimes there are situations that a person simply cannot be in this role due to certain life circumstances, and in this case, the person writes to the highest executive authority in the region where he lives. The statement must write the reasons for the refusal with reference to the rule of law, which states that this person for such reasons cannot be an assessor.
The reasons why you can write such a statement are as follows:
- age less than 25 years;
- criminal record;
- criminal prosecution;
- disability established by a judicial authority;
- poor health, confirmed by a medical document;
- being registered with a narcologist or psychiatrist;
- physical injuries and disabilities;
- age 65 years or more;
- if the person is a priest or a soldier; replaces government posts; He is a judge, lawyer, prosecutor, police officer and has special ranks, is engaged in detective work.
The application is considered by the highest executive authority within 5 days, after which its decision can be appealed in court.
In the event that a citizen’s application is accepted and all the facts are confirmed that he cannot be an unprofessional judge, the list of jurors must be changed and the person excluded from it.
Work in court
If a person is nevertheless chosen by a jury and approved for this position, then he is relieved of his main job for the whole time of the criminal case consideration, while he receives a remuneration for his work in an amount that is 1/2 of the judge’s salary for that number of days that were worked out by him in court. At the same time, the citizen chosen by the assessor retains his workplace, and he is reimbursed for all travel expenses to the place of consideration of the case and vice versa. At this time, the employer cannot dismiss such a person or transfer to another position.
A citizen is called to work as an unprofessional judge once a year for 10 days, if the jury trial continues for a longer period, then for the entire period of the administration of justice until the verdict is passed.
Verdict
After the assessors heard all the parties to the process, they must go to the deliberation room, where they make their decision on this case. As a rule, the jury faces several questions and they must give clear answers to them.
The jury verdict is a deliberate and unanimous decision that decides the fate of the defendant. In it they must indicate: guilty or not, and also answer a number of other questions, if such were indicated by the chairman.
In the event that the decision of the assessors acquits the accused, the judge must pass an acquittal and agree with him. If the verdict is guilty, the judge may not agree with him, thereby proclaiming his decision and dismissing the jury.
Composition of assessors
The formation of the jury takes place in closed court. At the same time, all persons who were randomly selected to play this role can recuse themselves if they, for certain reasons, cannot participate in the process. Also in such a meeting, a lawyer and the public prosecutor participate, each of them has the right to ask the jury questions. After that, the court may ask the jury to declare motivated challenges.
Of all the remaining citizens, only the first 14 people who are on the list are selected. At the same time, 12 of them are a jury, and the remaining 2 people will be spare. After the entire list of lay judges is announced at the hearing, this fact is recorded by the secretary in the record of the court hearing.
Rights
All rights of a jury regarding criminal proceedings are enshrined in article 333 of the criminal procedure code. However, they cannot be limited to any of the participants in the process.
Interviewers have the right:
- take part in the study of all circumstances of the case;
- through the chairperson to ask their questions to all citizens who will be interrogated in court;
- inspect material evidence and documents;
- write down all the facts of interest to them, for their subsequent use in preparing answers to the questions posed;
- to express a request to the court for clarification of incomprehensible legal concepts and documents that were considered in the process.
The jury does not have the right to leave the courtroom during the trial, to communicate with someone from outsiders, and also to find out all the circumstances of the atrocity committed outside the trial.
In case of violation by the lay judges of the established rules, they shall be removed from the list and replaced by other jurors.
Arbitrage practice
In ordinary life and in small towns, the participation of jurors in court when considering certain cases is quite rare, but, nevertheless, such cases are sometimes encountered in practice.
One example of a criminal case fully confirms this fact.
A citizen was accused of atrocity committed with particular cruelty against two persons under Article 105 of the Code of Crimes. He was threatened with punishment up to life isolation from society. He did not admit his guilt in the committed act and testified that on the night of the murder of his friends he simply slept under the influence of sleeping pills and does not remember anything. At the same time, the latter stated at the investigation that he was petitioning for a jury trial. His request was granted.
The jury recognized the citizen as not guilty of the act. Because the examination showed the presence in his blood of sleeping pills, which were taken by the defendant until the time of the murder and worked for another twelve hours. That is why the case was sent for a new trial, and the citizen was released in the courtroom.
Practice shows that jurors are persons who do not know all the norms of the law at a professional level, but who administer justice in other cases even better than competent judges. And therefore, the society strives to ensure that all processes of grave and especially grave atrocities are carried out only with the participation of assessors, and the accused themselves more often requested this.