The right to be judged by a group of your peers is part of the bedrock of the American legal system. But jury trials are controversial, and many democracies worldwide do not rely on them at all. 

Germany 
Jury trials were abolished in Germany in 1924, and most cases are tried by a professional judge or a panel of "lay" judges known as schoffen — nonprofessional members of the public selected from a list of eligible citizens. Councils compile lists of members of the public "deemed suitable," who are then chosen by committee for a five-year term, said The Guardian. They must be between 25 and 69 years old, and "religious ministers, certain politicians and health professionals working in the court system are among those excluded."

India 
Jury trials, introduced under British colonial rule, were abolished after an infamous 1959 case in which a navy commander was acquitted by a jury of murdering his English wife's lover despite "overwhelming evidence," including his confession. After decades of concern about the jury system, the verdict "wrote the death warrant of jury trials in India," said the BBC. 

Juries were gradually phased out before being officially abolished in 1973. Most of Asia's common law jurisdictions — countries including Malaysia, Pakistan and Singapore — have also abolished jury trials amid concerns that juries are susceptible to bias. 

Italy 
The criminal law system in Italy is a "hybrid" of U.S.-U.K. "adversarial" trials, in which the prosecution and defense present their cases before a judge and jury, and the European "inquisitorial," in which a judge investigates a case, collects evidence and questions witnesses, said the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. In certain courts, professional judges work alongside lay judges similar to those in Germany. There's a minimum age and education level requirement, and they cannot be members of the armed forces, police or clergy.

President Donald Trump's surprise announcement on Wednesday that the White House planned to levy a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports has sent shockwaves through both countries. But as he made clear, the tariffs aren't borne of economic necessity. Instead, the proposed fees are a vector for political leverage on behalf of former Brazilian President and MAGA ally Jair Bolsonaro, who's under investigation for attempting to overturn his 2022 electoral loss to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Tariffs are about 'more than just trade'
Although in the past year Brazil has purchased nearly $7.5 billion more American goods than vice versa, it has "historically run a small trade deficit with the U.S.," said TS Lombard economic analyst Elizabeth Johnson to Al Jazeera. But as Trump's letter notifying da Silva of the looming tariffs spelled out, the move is "very much political." The president's missive falls "in line with Trump's belief that tariffs are about more than just trade" and are to be used as "leverage" to "pressure countries to cave on any number of different issues," said Politico.

Given that Trump's tariffs are "supposedly about national security and reducing trade deficits," it's "more than a little odd" that his letter "begins with a rant about a 'witch hunt' against Bolsonaro," said the National Review. There's "no economic factor that "justifies a measure of this size," said Ricardo Alban, the head of Brazil's National Industry Confederation, to The Wall Street Journal. Trump is simply "taxing American consumers to try to do a favor for one of his political allies," said NPR's Kai Ryssdal on Bluesky. 

'Authoritarian fantasy' that's 'doomed to fail'
The sudden imposition of 50% tariffs may have left Brazil "few options to deescalate," but Trump "may have overestimated the country's vulnerability to the levies," said Reuters. While the high tariffs will still be "painful," Brazil is a "long way from having the same vulnerability" other targeted nations face.

Trump's "crude attempt at blackmail" against Brazil's political system is an "authoritarian fantasy" that's "doomed to fail," said Brazil's Folha de S.Paolo newspaper. The threat "will have no effect" on Bolsonaro's trial. 

Additionally, Brazilians will be "incredibly offended," said former Obama administration diplomat Stephen McFarland to Politico. If enacted, these tariffs will result in a "strong nationalist reaction that ironically will boost" da Silva.