A juror took a selfie in the courtroom and posted it on Facebook with the caption “Nu ska vi set dit buset”.
Now the goal must be retaken.
– There are no strange things. It happens from time to time that jurors do not understand their role, says former lawyer Jens Lapidus.
It was earlier in May that the juror took the selfie before a main hearing concerning violent resistance in the Stockholm district court. Now the district court considers that the publication has disturbed confidence in her impartiality in the case and that she had taken a position on the issue of guilt.
– It is not certain that she made a specific statement about this case, but one cannot avoid the suspicion that she has already decided that this is “mischief” to be brought down, and then one is no longer impartial.
Criticism of the system
After the decision that there is a stalemate and that the hearing must be repeated, the defendant’s lawyer Mark Safaryan criticized the system.
– It is obvious that the jury system in its current form does not work, he said to Dagens juridik then.
Jens Lapidus can to some extent buy the criticism, but thinks it is important to have a system where a single judge does not decide.
– In criminal cases in the district court, you have a legal judge and three jurors. If all three judge in one way, the jurors win over the judge. If there is a tie, the referee wins. The idea of the system is to bring in common sense and ordinary people so that there are no closed processes that only lawyers are involved in.
Instead, he wants to review how it goes when jurors are recruited.
– Most jurors are people who are retired, something that many have criticized for not being representative. But say the 35-year-old in the middle of his career who has time to sit 50 days in a trial.
He elaborates on how he thinks the system could have been better:
– I think you could broaden the base and not just pick from political parties but open it up to other interested parties. I think that the educational requirements for the judges could be increased, so that these situations do not have to arise. And I think the court needs to have clearer feedback.
Duty comes with it
Being a judge comes with certain duties. Lapidus would like to point out that it is important that in the role of jury member you really understand what duties you have to comply with.
– You really have to understand your place and understand your role. We have an incredibly old system. There have been jurors for hundreds of years.