May 21 marked the first anniversary of the lay judges law's taking effect. The first trial in which lay judges took part started in August 2009. The system, aimed at increasing public participation in the delivery of criminal justice, is based on a June 2001 proposal by the government panel on reform of the judiciary. In principle, six lay judges and three professional judges handle first-stage trials for serious crimes such as murder and rape.
So far, some 16,000 people have been summoned to court as lay judge candidates and nearly 2,900 have been chosen to actually serve as lay judges. But some people are of the opinion that the Constitution presupposes trials by professional judges and that the lay judge system violates the constitutional "right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial tribunal."
The Supreme Court should pay close attention to the views of those who have served as lay judges. Some say that professional judges appear to steer lay judges' opinions in a certain direction during discussions and that professional judges lack the ability to understand ordinary citizens' feelings and thinking.