NCJ Number
79943
Journal
American Bar Foundation Research Journal Volume: 1981 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1981) Pages: 195-219
Date Published
1981
Length
25 pages
Annotation
The German mixed court system is described and contrasted with the American jury system, with attention given to the extent that the mixed court serves the purposes of the jury.
Abstract
For cases of serious crime, German courts use a variant of the jury called the mixed court, where layman and professional judges sit as a single panel that decides verdict and sentence. Cases of more serious crime are tried by five judges--two lay and three professional; and less serious crimes are tried by a court of three judges--two lay and one professional. An average trial in a two-three court lasts 1 day, and a trial in the two-one court requires about 2 hours. The mixed court structure accelerates procedure in comparison with the American jury system, because it dispenses with the jury system's time-consuming features, such as voir dire, the rules of evidence, and jury instructions. In addition to expediting the trial process while maintaining lay participation in verdict decisions, the mixed court extends lay participation to sentencing. The mixed court also informs the lay members better than the jury system because of interaction with professionals in decisionmaking. The mixed court system, however, places more restrictions on lay autonomy than the jury system, and the number of laymen involved is considerably less than on juries. The time-consuming aspects of the jury trial, however, have made it impractical in a court system deluged with a large volume of cases, so that the prevalent alternatives for case handling have become plea negotiations and bench trials, neither of which has lay participation. The mixed court would approach the benefits of the jury trial without its time-consuming elements, while providing the lay participation absent in plea negotiations and the bench trial. A total of 91 footnotes are provided.