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Review article

Suspension of Trial by Jury in a State of Emergency in Istria and Dalmatia in the Period from 1873 to 1918

Dunja Pastović orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-0501-2436 ; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia


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Abstract

The author analyzes the suspension of trial by jury that was introduced in Istria and Dalmatia as a part of the Austrian legal system by a special law adopted at the same time as the Criminal Procedure Act of 1873. The suspension of the jury was applied in states of emergency, when it was necessary to ensure an impartial and independent trial, and it was considered one of the four legal instruments intended for the management of exceptional circumstances. Prerequisites for the suspension of the jury were very general and elastically formulated, which facilitated its widespread use by the government. The first application of the suspension of the jury took place in 1882 in the area of the District Court in Cattaro in Dalmatia and it lasted until 1890. The government justified its decision by citing an exceptionally high percentage of acquittals, which was the result of intimidation of jurors and the threat of ongoing blood vengeance. It is also important to note that the suspension of the jury coincided with the introduction of a state of emergency in Kotor due to outbreaks of rebellion in the Bocche di Cattaro at the end of 1881. In regard to Istria, from 1873 until the beginning of the First World War, the state of emergency was never introduced and the legal instruments for its management were never implemented. In Istria, in cases where there was a doubt as to the impartiality and independence of jurors, jurisdiction would usually be delegated to another assize court, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1873. The suspension of the jury also applied during the 1880s in order to suppress anarchist propaganda. The most serious government intervention in a trial by jury was made during the First World War, when the government suspended a trial by jury for the entire state territory. Using emergency imperial decrees, it extended the suspension of jury trial until 1917.

Keywords

suspension of trial by jury; Istria and Dalmatia; state of emergency; Austrian legislation; period 1873-1918

Hrčak ID:

186938

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/186938

Publication date:

15.9.2017.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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