The Jury as Catalyst for the Reform of Criminal Evidentiary Procedure in Continental Europe: The Cases of Russia and Spain

This paper focuses on the dialectic between the search for truth, adversarial procedure, and lay participation in the preparation, presentation, and evaluation of evidence in criminal trials. Its primary focus is on the reintroduction of trial by jury in two classic inquisitorial criminal justice systems, Russia (1993) and Spain (1995), as a catalyst in those countries’ move to adversary procedure. It focuses on the effect of the jury system on preparing evidence for trial, the presentation of evidence at trial, and the evaluation of evidence