The institution of jury trial should be developed and used so that the court decisions are perceived by society - President of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court

On 19 March 2021, Stanislav Kravchenko, President of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court participated in the III International Criminal Law Forum. He spoke about the operation of jury court in Ukraine at the third session "Development of Practice".

Stanislav Kravchenko noted that according to the CPC of Ukraine, upon the motion of the accused, criminal proceedings in the court of first instance in respect of crimes for the commission of which punishment is envisaged of life imprisonment, should be heard by a jury trial consisting of two professional judges and three jurors.

"Today, criminal proceedings are heard by a jury, albeit in a limited number. The  question arises as to what extent we are satisfied with a model of a jury trial, prescribed by law", said the President of the CrimCC SC.

The speaker told about experience of other countries, where the jury court is effectively operating. For example, in the United States, a judge organises judicial proceedings by relying on a jury that gives a guilty or not-guilty verdict.

"Our citizens are no less wise than citizens of other countries, and the institution of a jury trial should be developed and used for certain to ensure that the court decisions are perceived by society, and in so far to increase confidence in the judiciary," said Stanislav Kravchenko.

As to him, there are, however, certain risks in respect of the proper functioning of the jury trial. The first one is underfunding. Unfortunately, the general courts funding  is 25% of that required, and they lack possibilities even to meet correspondence, Internet costs (that hinder operation of the case distribution system, court hearings recording, etc.), remuneration of the court staff.

Operation of jury requires resolving of the issues in respect of jury seats in the court, remuneration and other issues linked to material support.

Secondly, it is necessary to settle the issues of the jury selection procedure and protection them from influencing.

The President of the CrimCC SC also informed that the Supreme Court had analysed the practice of hearing criminal proceedings by the courts of first instance involving jurors. The "Analysis of problematic issues that arose in the process of hearing criminal proceedings by the courts with jurors in 2019 - the first half of 2020" has been developed following that researching, which was submitted to the specialised committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by the Supreme Court.

Stanislav Kravchenko noted that changes in respect of jury functioning that were proposed by the lawmaker, should not be declaratory, and requires currently resolving of many issues on the point of renewed approach towards creation of a jury, and proper funding in particular.