Jury trial in Ukraine

Russian Empire

Jury trials on Ukrainian lands near Russia were introduced by judicial reform in 1864 . They were mandatory for serious criminal offenses, in particular those for which they were facing a sentence of more than 10 years in prison or the death penalty, as well as political and religious crimes. At the beginning of the 20th century. doubts arose as to the appropriateness of a jury trial, which resulted in a tendency to limit their competencies. In particular, there were attempts to remove political crimes from the jurisdiction of the jury. One of the most ardent defenders of the institute of jury trials was Ukrainian lawyer Alexander Kistyakovsky .

Austria-Hungary

During the Austrian rule in the territory of present-day Ukraine, jury trials were introduced in 1873. They examined political crimes and misconduct committed in print, and defendants facing the death penalty, life or imprisonment for more than 10 years (in exceptional cases, also the cases of defendants facing imprisonment for less than 10 years).

On the Ukrainian lands ruled by Poland , the jury trials first acted as provided for by the 1921 constitution and Austrian criminal procedure law, which continued to operate in Galicia . The Polish Code of Criminal Procedure of 1928 also provided for jury trials, but this institution was canceled several years earlier, and the new constitution did not provide for it. On the Ukrainian lands under Romanian rule, the jury trials, which initially operated since Austrian times, were canceled in 1936 . Also in Czechoslovakia, the jury lost its meaning in the 1930s . This tendency was the result of the gradual restriction of citizens 'rights to participate in the direct exercise of state power and the introduction of actual jurisdiction of the jury by combining them into a single judicial board with professional judges, the introduction of a new form of citizens' participation in the administration of justice as assessors (original witnesses in court) . The main theoretical justification was the jury's lack of professional legal training and a low legal culture of citizens.

USSR

Considering the jury trial to be a “bourgeois court”, the USSR did not include them in the judicial system, limiting the participation of public circles in legal proceedings by assessors who participated together with professional judges in all courts, civil and criminal, of the first instance, they were elected at public meetings for 2½ g. among citizens over the age of 25 years. They carried out legal proceedings no longer than 2 weeks per year. The meeting was declared one of the forms of direct participation of workers in the implementation of socialist justice. "

Jury trial in independent Ukraine

When the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted, article 127 and a number of others enshrined the jury and the participation of citizens in the administration of justice as assessors, but there were no clear mechanisms for attracting Ukrainian citizens to the direct implementation of the judiciary. The Law of Ukraine “On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges” of July 7, 2010 also contained only general provisions (with the exception of the jury certificate). The Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which was in force at that time, also did not provide for a jury or lay judge. An important turn in the activities of the jury in Ukraine was the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, which laid down the foundations of this institution of democracy. Also, in pursuance of the terms of the new Code, the adoption of an updated version of the Law of Ukraine “On the Judicial System and Status of Judges”, which prescribed mechanisms for the approval of jury lists, was adopted.

• Jury trial
• Court of first instance

• For pivroka, jury judges examined 8 references // Law and Business, 08/13/2013 10:57 (Ukrainian)

• The Law of Ukraine “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges” (Ukrainian)
• PDA (Ukrainian)
• Constitution of Ukraine (Ukrainian) .