An Introduction to Comparative Jury Systems (symposium editor)

The jury is experiencing a renaissance worldwide. Countries that have never had a jury system, or have had one in the past, have turned to citizens to decide criminal cases. Countries, especially those that aspire to be more democratic, have begun to recognize the importance of having ordinary citizens participate in the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, countries with a longstanding jury tradition continue to maintain that tradition. As some countries consider how best to introduce the jury, or some variation of it such as a mixed court of laypersons and professional judges, and other countries consider how best to improve their jury system, it is essential for jury scholars to share their ideas and observations. This symposium on “Comparative Jury Systems” brings together jury scholars’ writings about their own or other jury systems so that the knowledge of different jury practices appears in one place and can generate new ideas about how one country’s jury practices might lead to new practices in another country’s jury system.