The distorted motivation of the verdict in the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court

Abstract

Regarding the motivation for the Jury’s verdict, the doctrine of the Supreme Court has established three theses as final: 1) the same degree of intellectual reasoning required of professional judges cannot be imposed on lay Juries; 2) for this reason, the LOTJ demands from the jurors nothing but a «succinct» reason for the verdict; 3) and the LOTJ itself empowers the magistrate-president to correct the deficiencies in the motivation of the verdict. In this article, the first thesis will be questioned (as not duly substantiated) and the second and third will be denied (as erroneous).