assessor

assessor, in law, a person called upon by the courts to give legal advice and assistance and in many instances to act as surrogate. The term is also used in the United States to designate an official who evaluates property for the purposes of taxation.

Assessors were appointed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries throughout much of continental Europe as an attempt to limit the influence of the jury system, which had been introduced in the wave of egalitarian reforms that followed the French Revolution. Displeased with the freedom of the nonprofessional jury that was so contrary to the civil-law tradition of the professional judge, legislatures introduced assessors who would sit and decide cases alongside professional judges. In effect, the attempt to gain independence from professional judges was more or less destroyed.

In France the jury of nine, which sits only in the assize courts, where only the most serious crimes are tried, is in reality a group of assessors who must decide in conjunction with three professional judges. Juries may circumvent the judges, as a majority of eight votes is needed for conviction, but in practice the judges generally are able to influence the jury and gain a majority.

In Germany there are Schöffen (lay jurists), who sit in groups of two at criminal cases. In specialized courts, such as labour courts, there are lay assessors who are representatives of the employers and employees. There are also lay assessors in England and the United States in maritime and admiralty courts and in various civil jurisdictions.

In the former Soviet Union assessors replaced the jury after the Bolshevik Revolution (1917). In the local people’s courts the assessors were chosen by the people, who met in assemblies of workers, employers, or peasants. However, in the higher courts assessors were elected by the soviets. Assessors sat with judges, but a majority of all those deciding was necessary for a verdict. Because the trial could be complex and the assessors untrained, they were influenced by the professional judges, particularly on questions of law.