Usagevpn.com – Russia’s Supreme Court is preparing changes to the country’s jury-trial system that would give presiding judges access to jury deliberations and shrink the number of jurors deciding criminal cases. Critics fear the measures could weaken one of the few parts of the Russian justice system where defendants have historically had a greater chance of acquittal.

The draft legislation has not yet been made public, but Deputy Chair of the Supreme Court Nikolai Timoshin and Supreme Court judge Sergei Zelenin have described its principal elements. The planned reform would permit a presiding judge to enter the room while jurors discuss a verdict, although the judge would not be allowed to vote on whether a defendant is guilty.…