All nations within the Anglosphere (US, UK, CA, AU & NZ) have JD imposed towards citizens. I know that the US & Canada both inherited that from Britain, which explains why they have it. However, should it be entirely only the judge making the conviction (some countries operate on a lay-judge system meaning juries aren’t used, such as Finland or Japan for example) rather than leaving that decision up to jurors?
Actually I thought I just saw something on NHK News that Japan is starting to do something very similar to juries; I think they call them lay judges.
Also be aware that in parts of the US, judges are elected by the constituents, which can be good or bad.