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Aristotle

"Politics"


But cases of this sort rarely happen at all even in large cities.
The different kinds of homicide may be tried either by the same or
by different courts. (7) There are courts for strangers: of these
there are two subdivisions, (a) for the settlement of their disputes
with one another, (b) for the settlement of disputes between them and
the citizens. And besides all these there must be (8) courts for small
suits about sums of a drachma up to five drachmas, or a little more,
which have to be determined, but they do not require many judges.
Nothing more need be said of these small suits, nor of the courts
for homicide and for strangers: I would rather speak of political
cases, which, when mismanaged, create division and disturbances in
constitutions.
Now if all the citizens judge, in all the different cases which I
have distinguished, they may be appointed by vote or by lot, or
sometimes by lot and sometimes by vote. Or when a single class of
causes are tried, the judges who decide them may be appointed, some by
vote, and some by lot. These then are the four modes of appointing
judges from the whole people, and there will be likewise four modes,
if they are elected from a part only; for they may be appointed from
some by vote and judge in all causes; or they may be appointed from
some by lot and judge in all causes; or they may be elected in some
cases by vote, and in some cases taken by lot, or some courts, even
when judging the same causes, may be composed of members some
appointed by vote and some by lot.


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