Russia Supreme Court prepares jury reform that would expand judge influence

Russia's Supreme Court is preparing legislation that would change how jury trials work, including a proposal to let presiding judges enter the deliberation room to clarify questions while jurors discuss a verdict. The draft would also reduce jury panels from six or eight members to four, marking a significant shift in a system that is already used only rarely. The changes have drawn criticism from lawyers and legal observers who say they would increase the influence of state-appointed officials over verdicts.

Sponsored

Deputy Chair of the Supreme Court Nikolai Timoshin and Supreme Court judge Sergei Zelenin have outlined the main elements of the planned reform, although the draft law has not yet been published. Under the proposal, the presiding judge would not be allowed to vote on guilt, but would be able to intervene to "clarify" questions that arise during deliberations. The package would also alter juror selection rules, allow people over 65 to serve, restrict the grounds for dissolving an already formed panel, and give defendants the right to отказаться from a jury trial even after a hearing has been scheduled.

The reform comes against the backdrop of a jury system that plays a very small role in Russia's criminal courts but produces acquittals at a much higher rate than the wider justice system. More than 640,000 criminal cases were heard in 2025, but only 643 were decided by a jury, or about 0.1%. In the first half of 2025, 144 of 444 defendants in jury cases were acquitted, close to one in three, according to Professor Sergei Nasonov of Moscow State University of Law, as cited in the reporting.

Across the criminal justice system as a whole, the acquittal rate is below 0.5%. Supporters of the reform argue that Russia's current jury model is too closely tied to the Anglo-American legal tradition and does not fit well with the country's continental legal system. Zelenin has said that closer interaction between judge and jury would make proceedings more stable.

Sponsored

They also point to the high rate at which jury acquittals are overturned on appeal, with figures cited by the Supreme Court ranging from 65% to more than 80% in different years. Critics counter that the stated reasons for overturning verdicts are often described as procedural breaches, which they say can be interpreted broadly. The debate matters because jury trials are one of the few parts of the Russian criminal process where defendants have a noticeably better chance of acquittal.

Any change that narrows jury size or increases judicial involvement could affect how independent those verdicts remain in practice. It also raises broader questions about the balance between formal legal procedure and state control in a system where jury trials are already exceptional. The proposed model is closer to the European lay judge system, in which professional judges and non-specialist members sit together as a single panel.

That comparison is central to the Supreme Court's argument that the reform would make proceedings more stable, but it is also at the heart of the criticism that the jury's separate role would be weakened. What remains unclear is when the draft law will be published, how quickly it could move through the legislative process, and whether the final text will preserve the current limits on judicial participation. The next stage to watch is whether the proposal is formally introduced and whether legal professionals mount a wider challenge to it.

#Russia #SupremeCourt #juryreform #criminaljustice #ruleoflaw