The Institution of People’s Assessors: “The Baby Was Thrown out with the Bathwater”

The article draws attention to the real implementation of the rights of citizens enshrined in Part 5 of Article 32 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in terms of their direct participation in the administration of justice. The abolition of the institute of people’s assessors and the inclusion of the institute of jurors in the national criminal process do not solve the issues of strengthening the institutions of a democratic and legal state. The dignity of a democratic constitution should be the maximum consolidation of the rights of citizens in order to realize the social qualities of the people, increase their legal culture and actively participate in strengthening the institutions of the state. According to the author of the article, the institute of people’s assessors is a phenomenon of a special legal phenomenon and the practical embodiment of the participation of the people in the administration of justice, therefore it should receive a new birth and take its historical place in the administration of justice in combination with juries and arbitration assessors.