“Defect of Sex”: Exclusion of Women from Jury Service in Istria 1873 – 1918
“Defect of Sex”: Exclusion of Women from Jury Service in Istria 1873 – 1918

Summary/Abstract: Upon adopting the institution of jury from English Common Law, European continental legislation also took the view according to which jury service was reserved exclusively for men. The exclusion of women from jury service was also adopted by the Austrian legislator who explicitly prescribed male sex among the prerequisites for performing jury service. Legal theorists did not offer any explanation for such a decision. Only with the expressing of demands for the introduction of jury service for women at the beginning of the twentieth century did the opponents of these demands start to express arguments against the idea of female jurors. This paper will give a brief overview of the legal and social status of women in Istria and their potential impact on the ability to perform jury duty. Emphasis will be placed on showing the reasons and opinions (expressed in legal literature, parliamentary debates and the press) why women were considered incapable of performing jury service until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

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