The Chamber of Deputies advanced today with the signing of the report on the project proposing to implement jury trials for federal crimes with sentences exceeding five years of imprisonment or detention. In a plenary session of the Penal Legislation, Budget and Justice Committees, the initiative that seeks to implement this tool of citizen participation for the formulation of judicial sentences in all federal and national courts in the country received the green light, which would imply a drastic change in the justice administration system.
The basic premise of the project is that a group of citizens without legal training chosen by public lottery can determine the guilt or innocence of those accused of serious crimes based on their own moral judgment. The initiative proposes the establishment of popular juries consisting of 12 members and two alternates, with gender parity, who must be present throughout the process under the guidance and direction of a judge responsible for issuing a verdict. The verdict is issued by the jury and is unappealable, and their deliberations are secret and not made public.
The jury trial system guarantees impartiality in verdicts, as their decisions do not depend on promotions or their judicial careers. The accused benefits from being judged by peers and not by the state itself, which is often colonized by corporate interests. According to the project, judges must conduct hearings in robes and with gavel, in accordance with a constitutional mandate from the constitution of 1853, ratified by the Constitutional Convention of 1994.
To serve as a juror, a citizen must be between 18 and 70 years old, have two years of residency in the jurisdiction of the act, be able to read and write, and possess physical and mental aptitude. Officials from the three branches of the state, lawyers, notaries, law professors, those convicted of crimes against humanity, and delinquent debtors are excluded. The public lottery is conducted based on the voter rolls compiled by the National Electoral Chamber every two years and is mandatory for selected citizens, who must be from the same territorial jurisdiction where the crime was committed.
The jury trial system is already implemented in the justice system of 12 Argentine provinces and is used in many countries around the world. The project received support from the majority blocs in the Chamber of Deputies. During the debate, the importance of this system to bring justice closer to the people, ensure the legitimacy of verdicts, and improve the quality of democracy was highlighted.
