european journal of crime, criminal law and criminal justice 22 (2014) 115-133 © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi 10.1163/15718174-22022043 brill.com/eccl The Nature of the Russian Trial by Jury “Jurata Patriae” or “Raison d’État” Nikolai Kovalev Department of Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 171 Colborne Street, Brantford, Ontario, N3T 6C9, Canada nkovalev@wlu.ca Alexander Smirnov  Herzen University, 6 Kazanskaya (Plekhanova) Street, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, 1 Senatskaya Place, 190000 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Abstract This paper explores the legal and political role of the jury system in contemporary Russia. It aims to examine whether trial by jury is an essential right of Russian citizens (jurata patriae) or, rather, a prerogative of the state (raison d’état). The main focus of the paper is the analysis of the Russian Constitution and the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In particular, the authors consider a recent majority decision of the Constitutional Court, which uphold the constitutional- ity of the law that abolished jury trials for terrorist, espionage and other crimes against the state. Keywords Trial by jury – comparative jury systems – criminal procedure – political crimes – fair trial – Russian criminal justice – lay adjudication of crimes – independent and impartial tribunal – jury reform in Eastern Europe – adversarial trial – natural and inherent right – constitutional law