Editing Jury (section)

==== Spain ====
Spain has no strong tradition of using juries. However, there is some mentions in the [[Bayonne Statute]] of 1808. Later, Article 307 of the [[Spanish Constitution of 1812]] allowed the ''Cortes'' to pass legislation if they felt that over the time it was needed to distinguish between "judges of law" and "judges of facts". Such legislation however was never enacted.

Article 2 of the [[Spanish Constitution of 1837]] while proclamating the freedom of the people to publicate written contents without previous censorship according to the laws also provided that "press crimes" could only be tried by juries. This meant that a ''grand jury'' would need to indict, and a ''petit jury'' would need to convict.

Juries were later abolished in 1845, but were later restored in 1869 for all "political crimes" and "those common crimes the law may deem appropriate to be so tried by a jury". A Law concerning the Jury entered into force on January 1, 1899, and lasted until 1936, where juries were again disbanded with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

The actual [[Constitution of Spain|Constitution of 1978]] permits the ''Cortes Generales'' to pass legislation allowing juries in criminal trials. The provision is arguably somewhat vague: ''"Article 125 – Citizens may engage in popular action and participate in the administration of justice through the institution of the Jury, in the manner and with respect to those criminal trials as may be determined by law, as well as in customary and traditional courts."''

Jury trials can only happen in the criminal jurisdiction and it is not a choice of the defendant to be tried by jury, or by a single judge or a panel of judges. Organic Law 5/1995, of May 22<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1995-12095 |title=Ley Orgánica 5/1995, de 22 de mayo, del Tribunal del Jurado. |language=es |year=1995 |access-date=2019-04-03}}</ref> regulates the categories of crimes in which a trial by jury is mandatory. For all other crimes, a single judge or a panel of judges will decide both on facts and the law. Spanish juries are composed of 9 citizens and a professional Judge. Juries decide on facts and whether to convict or acquit the defendant. In case of conviction they can also make recommendations such as if the defendant should be pardoned if they asked to, or if they think the defendant could be released on parole, etc.

One of the first jury trial cases was that of Mikel Otegi who was tried in 1997 for the murder of two police officers. After a confused{{Clarify|date=April 2010}} trial, five jury members of a total of nine voted to acquit and the judge ordered the accused set free. This verdict shocked the nation.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.elmundo.es/1997/03/07/espana/07N0018.html| title = ESPAÑA {{!}} Juicio a Mikel Otegi por asesinar a dos ertzainas. Un jurado popular absuelve al joven de Jarrai<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> An alleged miscarriage of justice by jury trial was the [[Wanninkhof case|Wanninkhof murder case]].