Argentina once again played a leading role at the Annual Meeting of the Law & Society Association (LSA), held this year in the city of San Francisco, United States. Our country was once again invited as an honored guest to one of the world’s most important academic gatherings devoted to the study of law, society, and democratic institutions.
The Law & Society Association annually brings together more than 2,500 scholars, researchers, judges, lawyers, and students from around the world, representing a wide range of disciplines connected to law, the social sciences, and public policy.
Within this broad academic setting, the Argentine delegation carried out its activities primarily within CRN 04 – Lay Participation in Legal Systems, the leading international working group dedicated to the study of citizen participation in the administration of justice and, in particular, trial by jury.
The AAJJ and INECIP Argentine delegation also had an unprecedented feature: it was the first time that three justices from provincial supreme courts participated jointly.
The delegation included Daniel Erbetta and Jorge Baclini, Justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of Santa Fe, and José Valerio, Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice of Mendoza. Also participating were Andrés Harfuch (INECIP), Agustín Arias Deceglie (INECIP–AAJJ), Judge Analía Reyes (AAJJ), Rosario Court of Appeals Judge Guillermo Llaudet Maza, Assistant Public Defender Gabriela Mateo (Province of Buenos Aires), and researcher Lucía Branc (INECIP).
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| Analía Reyes, Andrés Harfuch, Daniel Erbetta,Jorge Baclini, José Valerio, Lucía Branc, Agustín Arias Deceglie, Guillermo Llaudet Maza. |
The Argentine representation was present in all panels organized by CRN 04, coordinated by Professors Valerie Hans, Shari Diamond, Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, and Mary Rose, together with Professors Richard Jolly and Jeremy Boulanger-Bonnelly of Canada.
Over the course of the conference, some of the world’s most renowned specialists in the field also took part, including Hiroshi Fukurai of Japan; Catherine Grosso, Barbara O’Brien, Nancy Marder, and Sonali Chakravarti of the United States; David Blaazer of Wales; Gabriela Almeida of Brazil; Shozo Ota of Japan; and Keng-wei Fan of Taiwan, among many others.
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| Jorge Baclini, Gabriela Mateo, Agustín Arias Deceglie, Valerie Hans, Daniel Erbetta, Gabriela Almeida, Sanja Kutnjak Ivkovic and Andrés Harfuch. |
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| Andrés Harfuch, Analía Reyes, Lucía Branc, Agustín Arias Deceglie, Hiroshi Fukurai and Daniel Erbetta. |
One of the highlights of the conference was the panel specifically devoted to the Argentine experience in jury trials, featuring the participation of Justices Daniel Erbetta, Jorge Baclini, and José Valerio.
Before a large international audience, the justices presented the process of designing, enacting, and implementing jury systems in the provinces of Santa Fe and Mendoza. They shared the lessons learned over recent years, the institutional challenges they have faced, and the future prospects for consolidating citizen participation in the administration of justice.
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| Agustín Arias Deceglie, Andrés Harfuch, Daniel Erbetta, Valerie Hans, Jorge Baclini, José Valerio and Lucía Branc. |
The presentations made it possible to showcase Argentina’s distinctive experience in the expansion of trial by jury, as well as the various provincial models developed across the country. The judges addressed issues related to the drafting of legislative proposals, implementation processes, the training of judicial actors, the adaptation of traditional forensic practices, and the current challenges posed by the consolidation of these systems.
The presence of three justices from provincial supreme courts generated particular interest among the international participants. As Valerie Hans and Shari Diamond emphasized during the conference activities, this was an unusual experience even by the standards of the Law & Society Association, as it enabled researchers from around the world to engage directly with those who had promoted, designed, and implemented trial-by-jury systems at the provincial level. Máximo Langer, an Argentine professor at UCLA, was also in attendance.
Argentina’s participation also featured prominently in the panel devoted to trial by jury in South America, where Andrés Harfuch, Agustín Arias Deceglie, and Gabriela Mateo delivered presentations.
The session examined the contemporary development of trial by jury in Argentina, its territorial expansion, and its institutional impact. It also featured the presentation of research on the current state of the jury system in Guyana, one of the countries with the strongest traditions in this field within the region, analyzing recent debates over possible reforms and the challenges currently facing that model.
Finally, during the closing day of the conference, a panel was held on various aspects of jury deliberation and decision-making. Among the Argentine presenters were Analía Reyes and Lucía Branc. The latter presented research on jurors’ deliberative processes and the dynamics that influence consensus-building during deliberations.
Analía Reyes presented on the development and use of gender-sensitive jury instructions, addressing the challenges posed by their practical application and their importance in ensuring fairer and more inclusive decisions.
Of particular interest was the presentation by the American Professor Nancy Marder, entitled “Against Zoom: Why Juries Need Courtrooms.”
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| Valerie Hans, Lucía Branc, Analía Reyes and Sonali Chakravarti. |
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| Nancy Marder, Mary Rose, Valerie Hans, Lucía Branc, Analía Reyes and Sonali Chakravarti. |
There was also a key panel organized by CRN 33, which brings together scholars specializing in jury systems in Asia. The panel featured presentations by professors from Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, including Shozo Ota and Hiroshi Fukurai, and was coordinated by American Professors Richard Jolly and Valerie Hans.
Remarkably, Argentina’s jury system was repeatedly mentioned by our Asian colleagues as a model to follow, particularly in the remarks of Japanese Professor Hiroshi Fukurai. Professor Ota spoke about civil juries, which Japan is seeking to reintroduce after a successful experience between 1945 and 1972.
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| Hiroshi Fukurai, Shozo Ota and Valerie Hans. |
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| The Taiwanese delegation, whose country has recently implemented a jury system. |
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| Professor Máximo Langer was present throughout the conference sessions. |
In addition to the academic activities held during the conference, the Argentine delegation carried out an intensive institutional agenda with judicial authorities of the State of California.
The delegation, composed of Daniel Erbetta, Jorge Baclini, José Valerio, Andrés Harfuch, Agustín Arias Deceglie, Analía Reyes, Guillermo Llaudet Maza, Gabriela Mateo, and Lucía Branc, held working meetings with representatives of the Supreme Court of California and the Judicial Council of California.
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| Neil Gupta, Jackie D'Almeida, Cory Jasperson, Lucía Branc, Agustín Arias Deceglie, Jorge Baclini, José Valerio, Daniel Erbetta, Guillermo Llaudet Maza, Analía Reyes, Andrés Harfuch |
During these meetings, the Argentine representatives exchanged experiences with Neil Gupta, Principal Attorney to the Chief Justice of California; Cory Jasperson, Director of Governmental Affairs; and Jackie D’Almeida, Legislative Advocate.
The conversations focused on court administration, the operation of jury trials, mechanisms for citizen participation in the justice system, and the institutional challenges currently facing the judicial systems of both countries.
The institutional agenda concluded with a visit to the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, where the delegation was received by Judge Harry Dorfman.
During the meeting, there was a valuable exchange on practical aspects of the day-to-day operation of jury trials, oral advocacy techniques, courtroom management, and the challenges involved in presiding over complex proceedings before lay juries. The meeting also provided an opportunity to share experiences regarding different models of justice administration and to strengthen the academic and institutional ties built over recent years between Argentine and American specialists.
Argentina’s participation in the Law and Society Association also represents the continuation of sustained work that the Argentine Trial by Jury Association (AAJJ) and INECIP have been carrying out for more than a decade in the leading international academic forums.
Over the course of these years, the Argentine experience has moved from observing foreign models to becoming a case study of global relevance.
It is no coincidence that researchers from different regions of the world continue to follow closely the evolution of trial by jury in Argentina. During the conference, various scholars emphasized that the implementation processes developed in our country now constitute an essential point of reference for jurisdictions undergoing similar reforms. In particular, the Argentine experience has been the subject of study and analysis in several Asian countries, including Taiwan, where debates on citizen participation in the justice system often refer to central aspects of the models implemented in different Argentine provinces.
Argentina’s outstanding participation in San Francisco once again highlighted the growing international recognition that our country has gained in the field of trial by jury and citizen participation in the administration of justice. Far from merely observing comparative experiences, the Argentine representatives were invited to present and discuss the advances, challenges, and lessons arising from one of the most significant contemporary experiences of jury-trial expansion in the world.
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| Valerie Hans and Catherine Grosso in the middle. |
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| Keng-Wei Fan from Taiwán. |
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| Prof. Shari Seidman Diamond. |
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| With Shari Diamond. |
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| Mary Rose and José Valerio. |
