Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

Get access

Lay judge
(818 words)

1. Introduction

Lay judges differ from trained judges particularly in that they are not professionally trained jurists. Although the term “lay judge” does not appear in the legal sources or in the laws of the early modern period, they enjoyed varying importance as judges, Schöffen in German-speaking territories, and jurors. The significance of lay judges as members of  juries in the Anglo-American legal world was incomparably greater than in Con…

Cite this page
Pahlow, Louis, “Lay judge”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 27 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022992>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190801



▲   Back to top   ▲