Three years have passed since the lay judge system was introduced to bring citizens' perspective into criminal trials. According to the Supreme Court, 20,817 had people served as lay judges and 7,257 as backup lay judges by the end March. More than 95 percent of them said that participation in trials was meaningful experience.
The lay judge law calls for a review of the system after three years have passed since its introduction. In reviewing the system, emphasis should be given to strengthening the mechanism to prevent false charges and to ensure fair trials.
A total of 3,601 people received sentences under the lay judge system. Of these, 17 or about 0.5 percent were given clear not-guilty sentences that totally rejected the prosecution's arguments. During the 2006-2009 period before the lay judge system started, the corresponding rate was slightly higher at about 0.6 percent. A tendency is seen that lay judges tend to give severer sentences in sex crimes and bodily injuries resulting in death.
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