Editing Jury trial (section)

===India===

The history of jury trials in India dates back to the period of [[Colonial India|European colonization]]. In 1665, a [[petit jury]] in [[Chennai|Madras]] composed of twelve [[English people|English]] and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] jurors acquitted a Mrs. Ascentia Dawes, who was on trial for the murder of her [[Slavery in India|enslaved servant]].<ref name=lay-justice-India>{{cite web|title=Lay Justice in India|author=Jean-Louis Halpérin|author-link=:fr:Jean-Louis Halpérin|date=25 March 2011|publisher=[[École Normale Supérieure]]|url=http://www.droit.ens.fr/IMG/pdf/Lay_Justice_in_India_1.pdf|access-date=3 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503122852/http://www.droit.ens.fr/IMG/pdf/Lay_Justice_in_India_1.pdf|archive-date=3 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> During the period of [[Company rule in India]], jury trials within a dual-court system territories were implemented in Indian territories under [[East India Company]] (EIC) control. In [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|Presidency towns]] (such as [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[Mumbai|Bombai]] and Madras), [[Crown Court]]s employed juries to judge European and Indian defendants in [[Criminal law|criminal cases]]. Outside of Presidency towns, Company Courts staffed by EIC officials judged both criminal and [[Lawsuit|civil cases]] without the use of a jury.<ref name=lay-justice-India/>

In 1860, after the [[The Crown|British Crown]] assumed control over the EIC's possessions in India, the [[Indian Penal Code]] was adopted. A year later, the [[Code of Criminal Procedure (India)|Code of Criminal Procedure]] was adopted in 1861.<ref name=lay-justice-India/> These new regulations stipulated that criminal juries were only mandatory in the [[High courts of India|High courts]] of Presidency towns; in all other parts of [[British Raj|British India]], they were optional and rarely utilized. In cases where the defendants were either European or American, at least half of the jury was required to be European or American men, with the justification given that juries in these cases had to be "acquainted with [the defendant's] feelings and dispositions."<ref name=lay-justice-India/>

During the 20th century, the jury system in British India came under criticism from both colonial officials and [[Indian independence movement|independence activists]].<ref name=lay-justice-India/> The system received no mentions in the 1950 [[Constitution of India|Indian Constitution]] and frequently went unimplemented in many Indian legal jurisdictions after independence in 1947. In 1958, the [[Law Commission of India]] recommended its abolition in the fourteenth report that the commission submitted to the [[Government of India|Indian government]].<ref name=lay-justice-India/> Jury trials in India were gradually abolished during the 1960s, culminating in the 1973 [[Code of Criminal Procedure (India)|Criminal Procedure Code]], which remains in effect into the 21st century.<ref name=lay-justice-India/>

[[Parsis]] in India are legally permitted to use jury trials to decide divorces wherein randomly selected jurors (referred to in the [[Law of India|Indian legal system]] as "delegates") from the local Parsi community are used to decide the outcome of the matrimonial disputes in question during civil trials. This jury system consists of a mixture of [[common law]] juries and the [[Panchayati raj]] form of [[local government]], and was first implemented during the period of British rule, with the colonial administration passing the [[Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936|Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act]] in 1936. Post-independence, it was amended by the Indian government in 1988.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://fb.com/notes/1302292416456423|title=Jury system in Parsi Matrimonial Disputes|date=August 30, 2016|website=Facebook, RIGHT TO RECALL AGAINST CORRUPTION}}</ref>