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as professional judges, prosecutors, attorneys or
police officers to serve as lay judges. Many countries
such as Croatia and Germany also require that lay
judges possess non-legal specialised skills, such as a
degree in educational studies or parenting experience,
to serve in select types of cases, primarily those
dealing with juvenile defendants. (Ivkovic, 2007).
France and Germany are given special attention in
this paper since they were among the six original
members that founded the European Union’s
predecessors; the European Coal and Steel
Community in 1951 and later the European Economic
Community and the European Atomic Energy
Community in 1957. (European Commission, 2016)
The composition of “lay judges” in France was
established in 2002. “Lay” judges are not professional
judges, they are appointed by the legal profession by
decree after the approval of the Higher Council of the
Judiciary (CSM) for 7 years and not renewable. They
exercise certain functions of judges in criminal or civil
matters. In May 2009, there were 618 “lay judges”. In
France, the involvement of “lay judge” can be seen in
the criminal division (Police Court Tribunal de Police)
of the District Courts (petty offences for classes one to
four) and also some civil cases under 4,000 Euro. For
both civil and criminal issues, cases are tried by a
judge sitting alone. Lay judges are also involved in
hearing cases in the Regional court and its criminal
jurisdiction. There are generally three judges hearing
cases in these courts; one of them may be a “lay
judge”. However, occasionally the courts are presided
by a single judge. The “lay judges” also participate in
specialist courts in France such as Labour courts,
Commercial courts, social Security courts and
Agricultural and Land tribunals. Judges of these
specialist courts are non-professionals and are elected
or chosen with the respect of equal
representation.(Ministry of Justice, 2012).
Another specialist court in France, the Juvenile
courts, that hear youth offences by offenders who are
below 18, also involves the participation of “lay
judges”. The Juvenile courts are presided by one
juvenile court judge assisted by two lay judges and
one court clerk. For most serious cases, there are
Juvenile Assize courts which have jurisdiction for
offences committed by minors from 16 to 18. These
courts are made up of three professional judges and a
jury made up of 9 civilians randomly chosen.
(Ministry of Justice, 2012).
Similar to France, lay judges in Germany also sit
in criminal cases in the courts of first instance i.e. in
local (Amtsgericht) and Regional (Landgericht)
courts and in appeal proceedings at the Regional
court. They are two lay judges sitting in addition to
one or two or three professional judges, depending on
which court it is. In addition, the lay judges in
Germany are also involved in the specialist courts like
the Labour tribunal and the Agricultural court. Lay
judges in the Labour (employment) tribunal
proceedings are required to have knowledge and
experience in the field of labour (employment) and of
world of work. The members in the Labour
(employment) tribunal proceedings consist of three
members; one presiding judge who is a professional
judge, one lay judge as a representative of employees
and one lay judge as a representative of employers.
On the other hand, in the Agricultural courts in
Germany, lay judges sit in courts for agricultural
matters in all the instances in agricultural court
proceedings. An agricultural court at local level is
generally composed of one judge of the local court as
chairperson and two volunteer lay judges. Panels of
judges in the Higher Regional Courts and in the
Federal Supreme Court are composed of three
professional judges and two lay judges. One of the
criteria to be lay judges in the Agricultural courts
include those who are working in agriculture in the
jurisdictional district in a self-employed capacity
either as a main or subsidiary profession. Another
specialist tribunal in Germany is the Trade Matter
Court. At the regional level there are special
chambers for trade matters to pass judgement in
disputes between merchants. In these chambers,
merchants / businessmen sit as lay judges, they are
known as "trade matter judges". Other qualifications
to be appointed as trade matter judges include
member of a board, managing director or an
authorised signatory of a business. A Trade Matter
Court is comprised of one professional judge and two
lay trade matter judges. In Germany, lay judges are
generally referred to as volunteer lay judges. They do
not receive a salary or stipend. They receive
compensation for their time and for actual expenses
incurred. (Deutsche Vereinigung der Schöffinnen und
Schöffen. (German Association of Lawyers and
Schöffen), (2009-2016).
Tribunals can be loosely referred to as bodies or
persons that adjudicate on specific matters as provided
by the statutes. In Malaysia these would include the
Tribunal for Consumer Claims established by the
Consumer Protection Act 1999, the Industrial Court as
established by the Industrial Relations Act 1967 and
the Disciplinary Board as established by the Legal
Profession Act 1976. Tribunals like the Industrial
Court that deals with trade disputes between the
employers and the employees and the Disciplinary
Committee that assists the Disciplinary Board in
investigating an alleged misconduct of a lawyer are
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