The jury is who? Selection procedure and authority

Any person, who will be selected by a special computer program of the subject, can become a juror. This event takes place once in four years. In the event that a citizen is elected to a jury, but because of circumstances he can not participate in the trial, it is necessary to report this. To refuse to participate in the process, a person without justifiable reasons simply does not have the right.

Definition

Jurors are citizens who participate in the court session as non-professional judges, decide on the guilt or innocence of the defendant and issue their verdict.

The majority of people living in the state render their confidence to the jury, not to 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 entire picture of the crime that has occurred. This is the whole meaning of civil society.

The jury is less susceptible to corruption and makes it possible for ordinary people to administer justice, but only if they are suitable for this role under all laws.

Jurors - this is, above 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 must show themselves only in the best way and in practice show that the court with their participation is possible not only for certain categories of cases, but also for all committed persons of atrocities.

Participants of the jury trial

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 examines all the nuances of the case from a legal point of view and qualifies the entire criminal act in full, and the jury only makes their verdict, in which they indicate the answers to the questions posed to them.

In the criminal process involved:

• A judge who is a professional;
• defender;
• Public prosecutor;
• Lay judges (non-professional judges in the number of 12 people).

The sergeant, who will communicate with the presiding judge, the jury choose from their circle independently. He also voices the verdict, adopted by all the assessors unanimously.

Legislative regulation

All jury activity is fixed in the federal law of August 20, 2004, No. 113-FZ, which is called "On jurors of federal courts of general jurisdiction in the Russian Federation." And also in the Code of Criminal Procedure, where all detailed information on the proper conduct of the case by the assessors, their rights and duties, the order of interaction of the presiding judge and the jury in the court session are prescribed.

Requirements for candidates

The choice of persons who will administer justice as assessors will be done by random selection using a computer program, after which lists will be formed by the highest executive authority. This procedure is carried out once every four years. There are only two lists - this is a general and spare one.

A candidate for jurors must have the following criteria:

• Be over 25 years of age;
• Not have a criminal record, if it is withdrawn or repaid, then the person has the full right to become a jury;
• Not to be registered with a psychiatrist and an expert in narcology;
• Be a citizen of your state and speak Russian;
• Do not have physical disabilities;
• Is not under investigation, in other words, he should not have the status of a suspect or accused in a crime.

In the event that a person is suitable for all reasons for the role of an unprofessional judge, then he must be approved by jurors.

Cases of participation in the case

Jurors take part in the consideration of the case in the court of first instance only if the person who is accused of committing a grave or especially serious atrocity expresses this desire.

Only those crimes that are punished for not more than 10 years of isolation from society are recognized as grave. Particularly serious are acts that entail the punishment of more than 10 years of imprisonment.

If the defendant did not apply for a trial involving a jury, then in this case the process is conducted by a professional judge on the basis of article 30 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Motivated failure

A citizen who was elected to a jury can not simply refuse to participate in the trial, because working as a judge in court is his direct and legislative duty. Because jurors are randomly selected non-professional judges who can disinterestedly and objectively take a decision that directly concerns the fate of a person, acquit him or convict him. But sometimes there are situations that a person simply can not be in this role due to certain life circumstances, and in this case the person in writing applies to the highest executive authority of the region where he lives. In the application, you need to write down the reasons for the refusal with reference to the rule of law, where it is stipulated that the person for such reasons can not be a assessor.

The reasons why you can write such a statement are:

• Age is less than 25 years;
• The presence of a criminal record;
• Bringing to criminal responsibility;
• Incapacity established by the judicial authority;
• Poor health status, confirmed by a medical document;
• Being on the account of a narcologist or psychiatrist;
• Physical disabilities and shortcomings;
• Age 65 years and over;
• If the person is a priest or serviceman; Replaces public positions; Is a judge, a lawyer, a prosecutor, a police officer and has special ranks, and is engaged in detective work.

The application is considered by the highest executive authority for 5 days, after which its decision can be appealed in court.

In the event that a citizen's application is accepted and all facts are confirmed that he can not be an unprofessional judge, the list of jurors must be changed and this person is excluded from it.

Work in court

If a person is nevertheless chosen by the jury and approved for this position, he is released from his main job for the entire period of the criminal case, and he receives a reward for his work in the amount that is 1/2 the salary of the judge for that number of days , Which were worked out by him in court. At the same time, his workplace is retained for the citizen selected by the assessor, and all travel expenses to the place of trial and back are reimbursed to him. At this time, the employer can not dismiss such a person or transfer to another position.

A citizen is called to work as a non-professional judge once a year for 10 days, if the trial of the jury continues for a longer period, then for the entire period of the administration of justice until the sentence is pronounced.

Verdict

After the assessors heard all the sides of the process, they must go to the advisory room, where they make their decision on this case. As a rule, several questions arise before the jury and they must give clear answers to them.

The verdict of the jury is a deliberate and unanimous decision that decides the fate of the defendant. In it, they must indicate whether they are guilty or not, and also answer a number of other questions, if such were indicated by the presiding judge.

In the event that the decision of the assessors justifies the accused, the judge must make an acquittal and agree with him. If the verdict turns out to be accusatory, then the judge can not agree with him, thereby declaring his decision and dismissing the jury.

The composition of the assessors

Formation of the jury takes place in a closed court session. In this case, all persons who were elected by random selection for the performance of this role, I can declare rejections, if they are for certain reasons can not participate in the process. Also in such a meeting, the attorney and the state prosecutor participate, each of them has the right to ask questions to the jury. After that the court can ask the jury to state 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 reserve. After the entire list of non-professional judges is announced in the meeting, this fact is fixed by the secretary in the record of the court hearing.

Rights

All the rights of jurors regarding the consideration of a criminal case are enshrined in Article 333 of the Criminal Procedure Code. However, they can not be limited to any of the participants in the process.

The chairmen have the right:

• Take part in the study of all the circumstances of the case;
• Through the presiding officer to ask his questions to all citizens who will be questioned in court;
• To examine material evidence and documents;
• Record all the facts of interest to them, for their subsequent use in preparing answers to the questions posed;
• To request the court to clarify incomprehensible legal concepts and documents that were considered in the process.

The jury has no right to leave the courtroom during the court session, to communicate with someone from outside persons, and to find out all the circumstances of the committed atrocity outside the trial.

In case of violation by non-professional judges of the established rules, they are subject to exclusion from the list and replacement by other jurors.

Arbitrage practice

In ordinary life and in small towns, the participation of jurors in court in certain cases is rare, but, nevertheless, such cases are sometimes encountered in practice.

One example of the criminal case fully confirms this fact.

The citizen was accused of a crime committed with particular cruelty against two persons under Article 105 of the Code on Crimes. He was threatened with punishment up to life-long isolation from society. He did not admit his guilt in the perfect act and gave evidence that on the night of the murder of his friends he simply slept under the influence of hypnotic drugs and did not remember anything. At the same time, the latter stated at the investigation that he was applying for a jury trial. His request was fulfilled.

The court with the participation of jurors recognized this citizen as innocent of the perfect act. Because the examination showed the presence in his blood of hypnotics, which were taken by the defendant until the time of the murder and acted for another twelve hours. That is why the case was sent for a new examination, and the citizen was released in the courtroom.

Practice shows that jurors are people who do not know all the norms of the law on a professional level, but carrying out justice in other cases is even better than competent judges. Therefore, the society strives to ensure that all trials of grave and especially grave atrocities are conducted only with the participation of assessors, and the accused themselves more often apply for it.