Definition

1. Noun:
   • People's juror: A citizen elected or appointed to participate in judicial proceedings alongside professional judges in certain courts, contributing to the panel's verdict.
   • Lay assessor: A non-professional judge who sits with and assists career judges in hearing and deciding cases, representing the community's perspective.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Phiên toà có sự tham gia của một hội thẩm. (The trial involved the participation of a people's juror.)
  • Vị hội thẩm đó đặt nhiều câu hỏi rất sắc sảo. (That lay assessor asked many very sharp questions.)
  • Hội thẩm và thẩm phán cùng thảo luận để đưa ra phán quyết. (The people's juror and the judge deliberated together to reach a verdict.)

Advanced Usage

• The role of a hội thẩm is a key component in the Vietnamese judicial system, emphasizing the principle of "people participating in the work of judgment."
• In some contexts, the term can be part of the official title for a panel, such as Hội đồng xét xử gồm các thẩm phán và hội thẩm (The adjudicating panel consists of judges and people's jurors).

Variants and Related Words

• Hội thẩm nhân dân: People's assessor. This is the full, formal title.
  • Cô ấy được bầu làm hội thẩm nhân dân của quận. (She was elected as a people's assessor for the district.)

Synonyms

• Lay judge: A non-professional who assists in judicial decisions.
• Assessor: An official who assists a judge or magistrate, particularly by contributing specialized or community knowledge.
• People's assessor: Direct synonym emphasizing the representative role.

Related Terms (Not Synonyms)

• Thẩm phán: Judge. A professional, career judicial officer.
• Hội đồng xét xử: Adjudicating panel or judicial council. This is the collective body that includes both judges and people's jurors.
• Bồi thẩm đoàn: Jury. A group of citizens who decide the verdict independently, which is a different system from the hội thẩm model.

1. People's juror