ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one species of non-legal professionals, namely that of lay judges. It examines what for practical purposes can be considered the most important aspect of lay judges’ functioning, namely their role in sentencing. The lay judges were first asked to introduce themselves and provide their general impression of their experience as a lay judge, after which the talks and questions successively focused on court hearing procedures; deliberations; “a message for future lay judges” and questions from the press. Public prosecutors presented the lay judges with material – typically an overview of the case in connection with a summary of their arguments – that lay judges indicated was easier to understand than that presented by the defense. Lay judges earlier mentioned self-conscious self-labeling as non-specialists, laypersons who could not hope to compete with the professionals, further reinforces the character of lay judge trials as the professionals’ world in which the lay judges briefly come to visit.
