October 02, 2026

Learning to Nod


Learning to Nod
Blind? Public domain.

Russian state newspaper Kommersant reported that the country's Supreme Court has drawn up a framework for changing the jury trial system. “The reform aims to increase citizens’ motivation, strengthen accountability for interference in the work of trial juries, and reduce the grounds for overturning acquittals,” the article said. 

The main changes involve reducing the number of jurors from six to four, simplifying the selection process, raising the upper age limit for jurors, and curtailing their powers. For example, the enigmatic “prohibition on examining, in the presence of the jury, matters falling outside their remit." Most importantly, the framework suggests creating a joint panel comprising a judge and the jurors, which has the potential to contradict the very idea of their independence.

 “This will streamline the proceedings and reduce the time taken to hear cases,” Kommersant reported. In reality, this could mean that the role of jurors will become purely formal, as was the case with the “people’s assessors” in the USSR. These assessors were derisively referred to as “nodders” because they responded to all the judge’s proposals with silent, submissive nods. 

“Allegedly, this is done to prevent pressure being exerted on the jurors,” said lawyer Ivan Pavlov on the situation during the immigrant news program The Breakfast Show, “but the element of pressure is obvious: it is precisely the judge who will exert pressure and sway them to deliver a verdict that has already been predetermined. And this, of course, will be a guilty verdict, because the system has been working for so long – investigators, operatives, then prosecutors – and suddenly some jurors might acquit the person and undo the work of an army of officials. To ensure that doesn’t happen, the trial will be presided over by a professional judge!”

Independent legal experts are commenting on the situation as if the decision to implement the concept had already been taken, as it's unlikely not to be brought into being.

The jury system first appeared in Russia during the tsarist era; it was eliminated by the Bolsheviks and reinstated in the 1990s as one of the most important of democratic institutions. Tampering with it is symbolic of Russia's larger recent shift away from those democratic ideals.

 

 

You Might Also Like

Sergei Pashin, judge

Sergei Pashin, judge

The motto of Emeritus Jurist of Russia Sergei Pashin is encapsulated in a quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky: “Let us enter the court with the realization that we too are at fault.”
Juries on Trial
  • November 01, 2004

Juries on Trial

After nearly a 100-year hiatus, jury trials have returned to Russia. The results, as one might expect, have been mixed.
Patriotic Post-Humanism
  • March 11, 2026

Patriotic Post-Humanism

The concept of a “plant-foreign agent” has appeared in Russian legislation. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955