The Globalizing Jury Trial
Lessons and Insights from Korea
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5146973 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ryan Park, Ryan S Park (0000-0001-9896-4585, Harvard University Press, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 525-582 |
| Publication date | 2010-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The American Journal of Comparative Law (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-919X • E-ISSN: 2326-9197 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5131/ajcl.2009.0049 |
| OpenAlex | W2090533147 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
Recent years have witnessed the widespread diffusion of the criminal jury trial across the globe. Considered by many to be foundational to participatory democracy, nations as culturally and geographically diverse as Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Japan are currently in the process of adopting mechanisms for lay participation in the adjudication of criminal cases. This Article investigates the historical origins of the jury trial's global spread, focusing particular attention on the recent example of South Korea. Identifying three "waves" of the jury trial's global diffusion—the first driven by British Colonialism, the second by the Napoleonic Wars, and the third by the post-Cold War spread of political democracy—the Article notes that the jury trial's introduction into Asia lies within this most-recent wave. It then offers a socio-political account of the origins of the Korean jury trial, finding that—contrary to existing accounts—its rise is best conceptualized as merely one rivet in larger atmospheric shifts occurring within Korean society at the turn of the millennium. The Article also explores the curious discord between escalating skepticism of the jury trial in those nations where it enjoys the deepest historical roots and its recent vast geographic expansion. Assessing the Korean system from within this inconsistency, the Article finds that—by adopting a unique, hybrid institutional design, which combines elements of the common law jury, the mixed tribunal prevalent in many civil law nations, and homegrown innovations—the Korean system endeavors to alleviate tensions inherent in existing iterations of lay adjudication. In so doing, it serves as a potential model for nations allured by the democratic promise of vesting ordinary citizens with judicial authority, but reticent to adopt either of the two most-prevalent, yet widely-discredited, institutional mechanisms thereof
Adjudication · Adversarial system · Democracy · Jury · Jury trial · Political science · Politics · Skepticism · Sociology · Jury Decision Making Processes · Law · Legal Education and Practice Innovations
The Movement of U.S. Criminal and Administrative Law
“It’s in the law”
Legal decision making among Korean and American legal professionals and lay people
In Ambiguous Times and Spaces
La mise en place du système de jury populaire au Japon
Governing Through Participation
Trial by Jury
Lay Participation in Taiwan
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |