students in Hughes Hall with taken through a glass window

Academics Centers & Programs

Lay Participation in Law

Our transnational collaborative team is dedicated to research on the phenomenon of lay participation in court systems and the fundamental sociolegal issues that it raises.

Close to two-thirds of countries around the world rely on their lay citizens to make legal decisions. In some countries, ordinary citizens with no legal training serve as jurors; in others, they participate in mixed courts of lay and law-trained judges to decide cases. Yet other countries enlist lay magistrates or justices of the peace to decide legal cases. Finally, some countries rely on lay courts such as tribal courts that operate outside the formal legal system. Our transnational group of scholars, lawyers, and others researches and writes about the phenomenon of lay legal decision-making in the courts.

Our collaborative research group includes members from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, Germany, Georgia, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Spain, Wales, and the USA. We meet regularly and share information vital to the creation of jury systems, mixed tribunals, and other ways of citizen involvement in legal systems worldwide.

Our Collaborative Research Network, CRN4, Lay Participation in Legal Systems is organized under the auspices of the Law and Society Association by Valerie Hans, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich, and Mary Rose.

See also our International Research Collaborative, IRC42, Lay Participation in Law around the Globe, and is organized by Valerie P. Hans, Mar Jimeno Bulnes, Shari Seidman Diamond, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovich, Nancy Marder, and Mary Rose.

5/26/21-5/30/21: LSA 2021 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL Virtual Conference
Here was the summary of the seven exciting virtual conference sessions that were sponsored or co-sponsored by our CRN & our IRC on lay participation in law. To learn more about LSA, please click here.

4/2/19: Stories from Argentina!

The first is from a judge who describes the experience of presiding over her first jury trial. I think you will find it fascinating.

http://www.juicioporjurados.org/2019/03/my-first-experience-as-judge-in-jury.html

The second describes a report written by our CRN/IRC colleagues Sidonie Porterie and Aldana Romano on their new research on the jury system in Buenos Aires province. Congratulations to Sidonie and Aldana on their fine work!
http://www.juicioporjurados.org/2019/03/first-empirical-research-about-latin.html

CRN/IRC member Valerie Hans has been elected president of the Law and Society Association for a two-year term beginning in June 2015. Click here for the story.

3/25/11: Popular Justice: Beyond Judges and Juries
Click here for more info

2/26/09: Takashi Maruta, Professor of Law, Kwansei Gakuin University Law School, Japan, and Visiting Scholar, Center for Japanese Legal Studies, Columbia University, Lay Participation in Legal Decision Making Comes to Japan: http://media.lawschool.cornell.edu/flashcom/misc/2009/hans_movie_feb09.html

Professor Maruta has been a major influence in the development of Japanese legal reforms, including the introduction of Saiban-in Seido, the Japanese reform in which six lay citizens and three professional judges decide serious criminal cases jointly. In his 2009 talk at Cornell, Professor Maruta discussed the law reform process that led to this particular form of citizen participation in legal decision making, and the special challenges that he and others confronted and continue to face in developing a strong and vibrant system of lay participation in Japan.

8/16/09: Foreigners size up lay judge system Citizens’ willingness to serve contrasts with other nations that allow public participation:

Click here to view the 2006 International Research Collaborative Newsletter (PDF format)

Click here to view the June 24th 2007 International Research Collaborative Newsletter (PDF format)

Click here to view the October 1st 2007 International Research Collaborative Newsletter (PDF format)

Information on this page is provided for archival purposes. All newly created PDFs on this website are accessible. For accommodation for PDFs on this page, please contact law-web-ada@cornell.edu.

Lay Participation in Law

News and Announcements

This website uses cookies