"joke and manipulating them is a common plot theme"

Much more difficult to manipulate a bunch of jurors than pay off one judge. This is why it's mostly in the movies.

"Most of Europe and India for instance."

India is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Scammers with lots of money running call centers and diploma mills regularly get off completely by paying off judges.

Having judges only does make me feel better. I can just pay them off when I don't want to go to jail.