Introduction

This chapter elaborates on a number of issues pertaining to democracy. It further discusses theories and findings of empirical research that are relevant for the question of whether or not, and if so in what form lay participation in a legal system would be desirable. The concept of participation is the central theme it and treated in various ways. The chapter seeks to determine what aspects form part of the concept of participation at the individual case level, and what the possible alternatives are. Next, various types of democracy and how these relate to participation by ordinary citizens in the criminal justice system are discussed. It has been contended that groups of people make better decisions than a single person. This would be an argument in favour of the jury or of a panel of decision makers. The chapter explores empirical research on the importance of the composition of panels in this respect.