Today, the Russian upper house approved a bill limiting a defendant's option of a jury trial in crimes concerning terrorism, espionage and organizing mass demonstrations. The bill now awaits the signature of Russia's president, which is highly likely to occur.
Proponents of the changes argue that they are needed because in the past years juries often have acquitted many suspects despite strong evidence incriminating them. According to statistics from 2007, Russian juries acquitted 2 in every 10 defendants while judges acquitted approximately 1 in 100 defendants. Russia, however, unlike many common law countries permits retrial of acquitted defendants. For more information about this issue click here to a previous post or see the articles below.
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