Quality of Justice and Lay Participation in the Light of Scientific Studies

Abstract

The study reveals the relationship between lay participation and the quality of justice by collecting classic arguments establishing lay participation in dispensing justice and subjecting them to critical analysis. A considerable number of arguments show a strong correlation with the image of quality and democratic justice. However, in the case of lay judiciary forms, the relationship between the goals set forth in arguments and their enforcement in practice can be detected to a different extent, although generally in a more modest way compared to legislative intent. What form of lay judiciary operates in a legal system and how it operates are generally more determined by legal historical myths pertaining to the institution than to any policy aimed at developing the quality of justice.