This depends enormously on what legal system you’re talking about. Some countries have a long history of trial-by-jury, and may even enshrine it in their constitution, some don’t.
In those systems that do have jury trials, the law will specify what types of crimes, and under what circumstances, a jury trial applies.
In a trial by jury, the judge is there to run the courtroom proceedings and guide the jurors. It’s basically the same thing the judge would do in a trial by judge, except the judge doesn’t make the final decision. The jury is just there to listen and make the final decision; the judge explains to the jury what and how they’re expected to do and helps them with any questions of procedure or legality. Jury members generally aren’t lawyers, they need a neutral party to answer their questions, that’s the judge.
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