The kremlin Has Finally Destroyed What Remained of the russian Judicial System’s Independence

russia is reforming its jury system, effectively stripping it of its last vestiges of independence. The authorities intend to reduce the number of jurors from 6–8 to four, include the presiding judge in the jury panel, and abolish the age limit of 65 for jurors.

The authorities justify the changes by citing the need to “increase citizens’ motivation” and reduce the number of cases where acquittals are overturned. But the statistics shows exactly why the jury system has become a problem for the russian system. Prior to the reform, juries acquitted defendants in 15–30% of cases. Professional judges hand down acquittals in approximately 0.2% of cases.

De facto, the kremlin is changing the rules in areas where a jury trial could still have given a defendant a chance of acquittal – the russian authorities want to control not only the court’s decision, but also the very mechanism by which it is reached.

This ties in well with another trend – the russian authorities’ call for criminal punishment for minors. According to a pro-kremlin public opinion research center, 40% of those surveyed believe that criminal liability should begin at the age of 14. A further 20% cited 12 years or a younger age as the threshold. The average age cited in the responses was 14.3 years. Only one in nine supported raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18.

In June, the head of the rf’s investigative committee aleksandr bastrykin had already proposed imprisoning teenagers from the age of 12, as well as holding their parents accountable.

This is how a system is being shaped in which the aim is to impose punishment earlier and to eliminate any possibility of exoneration. At the same time, the kremlin is changing the rules governing jury trials and supporting harsher punishments for minors. Both decisions serve to strengthen the repressive apparatus and suppress the fundamental freedoms of russian citizens.