Does the Jury Violate Human Rights?

Benoit Frydman critiques the Belgian Superior Council of Justice for misrepresenting the European Court of Human Rights' decision in Taxquet v. Belgium to justify abolishing the jury, demonstrating that the ECtHR actually reaffirmed that jury procedures and unmotivated verdicts comply with human rights standards and explicitly stated that no violation occurs in jury trials. The author explains that professional magistrates' hostility toward the jury, while understandable, reflects different judicial cultures with distinct logics and guarantees rather than superior versus inferior systems; moreover, higher acquittal rates in jury trials suggest the institution functions effectively as a safeguard for fundamental rights.