Due to increasing problems in finding enough lay judges, judges are calling for reforms. A suggestion from the judges’ association is that the jury should judge together with the professional judges, then the verdicts would also be well founded and would contain findings on the respective case, like other court judgments. However, there is nothing about this in the government program.
The Ministry of Justice has now commented on the problems outlined by the judiciary of finding sufficient lay judges for jury trials. The department explains that there are no statistics on this. “However, the difficulties often lie on a purely factual level (excuse with a doctor’s certificate, sufficient knowledge of German, spontaneous reasons for professional exemption, etc.).” As reported, a trial of an attempted murder in Graz in December fell through because only six of the 20 summoned people showed up on time. A week later the trial against a Vietnamese woman (21) could take place. …
Retrieved on January 3rd, 2022 at 9:56 am on https://www.sn.at/panorama/oesterreich/geschworene-sollen-mit-berufsrichtern-gemeinsam-olzenen-114937378