Page "Jury trial" Paragraph 35

In countries where jury trials are common, juries are often seen as an important check against state power.

Other common assertions about the benefits of trial by jury is that it provides a means of interjecting community norms and values into judicial proceedings and that it legitimizes the law by providing opportunities for citizens to validate criminal statutes in their application to specific trials.

Alexis de Tocqueville also claimed that jury trials educate citizens about self-government.

Many also believe that a jury is likely to provide a more sympathetic hearing, or a fairer one, to a party who is not part of the governmentor other establishment interestthan would representatives of the state.