Should Juries Give Reasons for Their Verdicts?: The Spanish Experience and the Implications of the European Court of Human Rights Decision in Taxquet v. Belgium

Authors

Stephen C. Thaman, Saint Louis University School of Law

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

This article discusses the Belgian jury system and the decision in Taxquet v. Belgium and then explores to what extent a requirement of reasoned judgments will affect the survival of European juries. It focuses on Spain, where the jury is required to give reasons for its verdicts, and where a lively high-court jurisprudence has developed addressing the quality and sufficiency of jury reasons. This article suggests that it might be appropriate for jury courts in the United States to in some way justify their decision of guilt, in order to minimize the amount of completely innocent persons who have been sentenced to death or other long prison sentences based on flawed evidence.

Recommended Citation

Thaman, Stephen C., Should Juries Give Reasons for Their Verdicts?: The Spanish Experience and the Implications of the European Court of Human Rights Decision in Taxquet v. Belgium (2011). Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 86, No. 2, 2011, 613-668.