Jury trials may be brought to district court’s level – Putin

MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) – President Vladimir Putin has declared an imperfection of the jury mechanism in Russia and has proposed to bring jury trials to the level of district courts.

“Obviously, the existent jury forming system is far from being perfect. Actually, why do we have to have twelve jurors, not 20 or 25 or ten or seven? There is no scientific proof that the larger number of jurors is the fairer their verdict is and the more efficient the system works,” Putin said at an all-Russia conference of judges on Tuesday.

‘The primary objective is to give a chance to choose this form of justice to as many citizens as possible,” he said. Yet, the number of jury trials reduced 1.5-fold last year, he added.

“This is another proof that this institute is inefficient in its current form,” the president said.

Putin said it was “necessary to expand the area of jury trials to the level of district courts.”

“This is also connected to expenses,” the president said. “Yet, I think that many will agree with me that we should definitely bear these expenses, if we want the judicial system to be better, and to have an effect on the activity of state institutions, which, in turn, will become more efficient,” Putin said.

“All this needs to be assessed, and a balanced decision needs to be made,” the president said.

[featured image is file photo]