Since January 2023, Taiwan’s Lay Judge System has served as a critical site for deliberative democracy. This study employs a mixed-methods socio-legal approach, analyzing all 123 criminal judgments retrieved via the keyword "lay judge proceedings" from January 2023 to January 2026. The research framework investigates the tension between legal "formal rationality" and lay "experiential cognition".

Findings indicate that while the system increases transparency, participants frequently succumb to "penal populism". This is driven by media-induced "risk society" narratives that prioritize exclusionary sanctions over rehabilitative ideals. To bridge this gap, the study argues that Global Citizenship in criminal justice must include epistemic responsibility—the capacity of citizens to critically evaluate evidence independent of sensationalized social narratives.

To insulate participants from such narratives, the study proposes integrating Peace Education principles into pre-trial instructions, specifically focusing on cognitive bias awareness and emotional regulation to mitigate moral indignation. By establishing these institutional safeguards, the judiciary can transform lay participation into a platform for inclusive global citizenship.

Ultimately, this research demonstrates how normative procedural frameworks can reconcile democratic participation with the core judicial values of social harmony and sentencing proportionality.

Authors:
Li Chuan Lee, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr.Li-Chuan Lee is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate Institute of Financial and Economic Law, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology.Her research expertise lies in criminal policy with a particular focus on prisoners' human rights.

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