Three decades of popular juries in the Canary Islands: “It seemed that the people didn’t know, but they had more knowledge than expected.”

Our colleague Sara Eloisa García Pérez, senior associate in the Criminal Law Department at Montero Aramburu & Gómez-Villares Atencia, participated in a special report by La Provincia / Diario de Las Palmas on the 30th anniversary of popular juries in the Canary Islands.

Sara Eloisa García Pérez offers an important legal reflection on the evolution of this judicial figure: “One of the most notable changes has been the progressive reduction in the list of crimes subject to jury trial. Its application has been restricted to crimes such as homicide or certain serious offenses that, in theory, do not require an overly technical legal analysis…”

Her contribution highlights the trend towards the stabilization of the popular jury as a tool for direct citizen participation in the administration of justice, while removing from it those cases that require complex technical assessments.