Debut of Jury System
Detailed Steps Needed to Promote Citizens' Participation
A jury system made its debut in South Korea on Tuesday, drawing much attention from the public. The system is designed to promote citizens' participation in trials as part of ongoing legal reforms. The introduction of juries is based on the principle of democracy that calls for people's active engagement in decision-making processes in the legislature, the administration and the judiciary.
No one can deny that the country has made great progress in democracy over the past two decades. Now, people can join the political process by exercising their voting rights. Therefore, elected officials rule under a mandate from the people. In this mandate system, people can directly take part in making laws and decisions.
In this sense, the debut of the jury trial is meaningful as it is expected to help ensure fairness as well as guarantee citizen's participation in the legal process. It is also likely to change public awareness about the justice system and the rule of law. We hope that the jury system will take root in order to develop a more democratic justice system. What's important is that citizens, judges, prosecutors and other concerned parties must make joint efforts to help grassroots democracy flourish.
The first trial attended by a jury took place at a district court in the southeastern city of Daegu. The courthouse randomly selected 230 jury candidates. Then 86 or 37 percent of them arrived at the court to be chosen as the jury in a criminal case. The figure was twice as many as the court expected, reflecting keen interest in the U.S.-style trial. The court whittled the 86 down to 12 finalists, nine jury members and three stand-bys, for the trail of a 27-year-old man indicted on assault and battery. At the recommendation of the jury, the court handed down a suspended 30-month jail term plus 80 hours of community service to the accused.
Experts said the first experiment was successful. But the judiciary has a lot of things to tackle with the system. In the U.S. juries deliver verdicts, while judges decide on sentences. But in Korea, the jury is only allowed to make recommendations on a verdict and sentence, while judges have the right to decide both.
Before the full-fledged implementation of the jury in cases of robbery, homicide and other grave crimes, the judiciary ought to ensure the proper selection of eligible juries. Many people still question if juries have sufficient knowledge about the law to make the right decisions. Therefore it is imperative to work out concrete measures to define the role of the jury and build public trust in its recommendations.