The historical aspect of the formation and development of the jury trial in Russia creates preconditions for analysis of "pluses" and "minuses" of this form of proceedings. The study of the phenomenon of the jury trial in historical perspective enables you to trace the process of its formation and development throughout the Russian Empire and its outskirts. The catalyst for the transformation of the judicial system reform became the year 1864, when a new form of proceedings - a jury trial - became the center of the process. The analysis of the stages of formation and functioning of a jury trial reveals its ups and downs, which consisted in changing the competence of jurors or requirements to candidates to the jurors. The introduction of a jury trial in the Stavropol province was accompanied by a "clash" of supporters and opponents of this form of proceedings. Almost half a century delay of the introduction of the jury system in the Stavropol region was due to many reasons, having political and social connotation.