Historical and Legal Fundamentals of Institutionalization of Jury Trials in Criminal Proceedings

The article is devoted to the study of the historical and legal foundations of the institutionalization of jury trials. The author defends the point of view that, being originally a British institution, starting from the second half of the 18th century, trial by jury began its wide and irreversible expansion on the European continent and beyond. Despite its supposedly “English” origin (if we take the Middle Ages as a basis), in fact, the institution of the jury has undergone a very long testing in Russia from 1864 to 1920, and this constitutional and legal model has undeniable advantages compared to the board of a professional judge and two people's assessors. This is mainly facilitated by the institutional separation of the procedural functions of professional justice and the participation of the people in the administration of justice in criminal cases.