Assessor (law)

In some jurisdictions, an assessor is a judge's or magistrate's assistant. This is in fact the historical meaning of this word.

By country

In Denmark, it was the former title given to Supreme Court judges. Today the title is given to Deputy Judges. See Courts of Denmark.

In Norway, the title was used for any judge before 1927.

In Sweden, a judge who has been a district court clerk for two years, an appeal court clerk for at least one year, a deputy district judge for at least two years and a deputy appeal court judge for one year gets, if he or she is approved, the title assessor. Hovrättsassessor = assessor of the civil and criminal appeal court. Kammarrättsassessor = assessor of the administrative appeal court. Having the degree of assessor is the most common way of getting a constitutonally protected position as a judge (ordinarie domare), but increasingly advocates, prosecutors and doctors of law are also appointed to these positions.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, assessors were also members of the juridiciary, sitting on the so-called kanclerz's courts or assessor's courts.

In Germany, Rechtsassessor ("assessor of law") is a title held by graduates of law who have passed the second of the two examinations qualifying for a career in a legal profession such as judge, attorney at law or notary public.

In the former Soviet Union and modern People's Republic of China, a judge presiding at trial is assisted by two "people's assessors" drawn much like jurors from citizens in the community. They do not rule on matters of law but can allow or deny objections. When the trial is completed the judge and people's assessors decide on a verdict.