COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIVITY OF COURTS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF JURORS: ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE USA AND KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

he authors, based on a comparative analysis of the criminal procedure laws of the USA and Kazakhstan, studied the issues of the activity of courts with the participation of jurors. The choice of the US experience in considering criminal cases by a jury was not accidental, since the USA is the state to use a jury trial and already has its own legal history that is different from the UK. In the course of the analysis, the authors revealed three aspects such as the selection of jurors, the number of jurors, and the voting procedure during sentencing. The selection of jurors under US law has its advantages in comparison with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in terms of simplifying the selection and the right to refuse to participate as a juror. On the issue of the number of jurors, taking into account the US experience, we believe it is possible to reduce them from 12 to 9 and in some cases to 7 jurors. On the issue of majority voting or unanimous voting, based on the experience of the United States, we hold the opinion on the importance of voting by unanimous decision. Based on the positive experience of the USA, the authors proposed several amendments not only to the criminal procedure legislation of Kazakhstan but also to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the authors believe it is necessary to expand the category of criminal cases considered by a court with the participation of jurors, to improve the selection procedure and voting procedure. As well as the possibility of consideration of civil cases by a court with the participation of jurors. We believe all these amendments will have a positive effect in protecting the constitutional rights of citizens and building a rule-of-law state.