<P> Jury trials are used in a significant share of serious criminal cases in almost all common law lawful systems ( Singapore , for example , is an exception ) , and juries or lay judges have been incorporated into the legal systems of many civil law countries for criminal cases . Only the United States makes routine use of jury trials in a wide variety of non-criminal cases . Other common law legal jurisdictions use jury trials only in a very select class of cases that make up a tiny share of the overall civil docket ( like defamation suits in England and Wales ) , but true civil jury trials are almost entirely absent elsewhere in the world . Some civil law jurisdictions , however , have arbitration panels where non-legally trained members decide cases in select subject - matter areas relevant to the arbitration panel members ' areas of expertise . </P>
<P> Jury trials are used in a significant share of serious criminal cases in almost all common law lawful systems ( Singapore , for example , is an exception ) , and juries or lay judges have been incorporated into the legal systems of many civil law countries for criminal cases . Only the United States makes routine use of jury trials in a wide variety of non-criminal cases . Other common law legal jurisdictions use jury trials only in a very select class of cases that make up a tiny share of the overall civil docket ( like defamation suits in England and Wales ) , but true civil jury trials are almost entirely absent elsewhere in the world . Some civil law jurisdictions , however , have arbitration panels where non-legally trained members decide cases in select subject - matter areas relevant to the arbitration panel members ' areas of expertise . </P>
who determines what is and what is not criminal
who determines what is and what is not criminal
juries or lay judges
juries or lay judges