Formation and Development of the Jury in Russia (Based on the Materials of the Saratov Region)

The master's thesis was carried out within the framework of the study of the formation and subsequent development of the jury trial in Russia on the example of the Saratov region. The purpose of this study is to identify problems and typical mistakes committed by participants in criminal proceedings when they are examined and resolved by the Saratov Regional Court with the participation of jury criminal cases. It should be noted that studies devoted to the identification of problems of administering justice with the participation of jurors are numerous, but in most cases they are extremely broad in nature, affecting only the practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in respect of all subjects of the Russian Federation, while ignoring the local problems that occur be in each of the regions. Only a purposeful study of an individual subject of the Russian Federation can lead to the formulation of specific (individually-defined) problems, and, consequently, proposals for their elimination. The empirical basis of the study was made by court decisions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, including appellate and cassation rulings passed against the verdicts of the Saratov regional court with the participation of jurors, as well as sentences and rulings of the courts of general jurisdiction of the Saratov region. Thus, the experience of the Russian Empire of the 19th century (on the example of the Saratov District Court) in the part of the legislative and organizational and technical regulation of the jury has been analyzed within the master's thesis. Also, the first trials with the participation of jurors, held in the early 1990s in the Saratov region, and the current practice of applying the criminal procedural rules governing the activities of the jury are consecrated.