List of issues

Updates and background for this project (Digest)

Should the principal qualification for jury service be enrolment as an elector for the Legislative Assembly?

Should qualification to serve as a juror be limited to Australian citizens?

Should the qualification be extended to permanent residents or to other classes of people?

Is it necessary to have a jury roll that is separate from the electoral roll?

Should it be possible to use other sources of information to:

(a) cross-check entries in the electoral roll, for example as to their current address or possible disqualification;

(b) supplement the names of potential jurors derived from the electoral roll by including those who are entitled to register as electors but have not done so?

What other sources of information should be used to identify potential jurors?

Should an ability to read or understand English be a qualification for jury service?

What should the level of ability be?

Should there continue to be separate grounds of disqualification and ineligibility?

Should the categories for excluding, exempting or excusing jurors be the same for civil juries as they are for criminal juries?

Should people who have been subject to custodial sentences continue to be disqualified from jury service?

What level of penalty ought to disqualify a person from jury service?

How long after the termination of the sentence should a person continue to be disqualified?

Should separate provision be made for the disqualification of young offenders?

Should there be any modification of the disqualification criteria for those people who have been dealt with as a juvenile, but who have now attained their majority?

What non-custodial or other orders should disqualify a person from jury service?

Should the grounds be amended so as to reflect in a more precise and currently relevant way, the criteria for disqualification?

Should people who are awaiting trial or sentencing be disqualified from jury service?

Should this category be varied so as to include those awaiting trial or sentence, who have been released unconditionally or otherwise?

Should lawyers or a particular group of lawyers, continue to be ineligible to serve on juries?

Under what conditions, if any, should lawyers be ineligible to serve on juries?

Should judicial officers continue to be ineligible for jury service?

Under what conditions, if any, should judicial officers be ineligible for jury service?

Should ineligibility for jury service continue to apply to people currently employed or engaged (except on a casual or voluntary basis) in the public sector in law enforcement, criminal investigation, the provision of legal services in criminal cases, the administration of justice or penal administration?

Should this ineligibility apply to civil trials as well as criminal trials?

Should any categories of people who have retired from positions associated with the administration of law and justice continue to be ineligible for jury service and, if so, which of these categories?

Should there be a period of ineligibility and, if so, what should it be for any or all of those categories?

Should the spouses or partners of any categories of people who hold or have held positions associated with the administration of law and justice be ineligible for jury service?

Should members of the NSW Parliament, or some members (for example, ministers or shadow ministers) continue to be ineligible for jury service?

Should officers and/or other staff of the NSW Parliament continue to be ineligible for jury service?

Should any public servants be ineligible to serve as jurors?

If so, what should be the relevant criteria for ineligibility?

Should the Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman continue to be ineligible for jury service?

Should officers of other supervisory bodies, such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Police Integrity Commission, also be ineligible for jury service?

Should NSW request that the Commonwealth repeal any or all of the exemptions under the Jury Exemption Act 1965 (Cth)?

Should the members of any profession or calling be entitled to claim an exemption as of right from jury service?

Should members of any of the health professions be entitled to claim exemption as of right from jury service?

If so, which categories should have that right?

Should members of any of the emergency services be entitled to claim exemption as of right from jury service?

Should any conditions be attached to that right?

Under what circumstances, if any, ought clergy and/or religious be entitled to claim an exemption as of right from jury service?

Should mining managers and under-managers of mines continue to be entitled to exemption from jury service?

Should the teaching staff at schools, universities and colleges be entitled to exemption as of right from jury service?

If so, under what conditions?

Should students be entitled to exemption as of right from jury service?

If so, under what conditions?

How should the concerns of small business owners and employees be met?

What should be the requirement for eligibility concerning a juror’s ability to read, understand or communicate English?

Should disability which impacts upon a person’s ability to discharge the duties of a juror continue to be a ground of ineligibility?

Should such disability be more precisely defined?

Should inability to discharge the duties of a juror because of sickness or infirmity continue to be a ground of ineligibility or should it be dealt with as an application to be excused for good cause?

Should pregnancy continue to be a ground of exemption as of right from jury service?

Should age be a ground of ineligibility or exemption from jury service?

What conditions should attach to any requirement of ineligibility or right of exemption?

Should the care of children or of others continue to be a ground of exemption as of right?

What, if any, conditions should attach in order for it to be exercised?

What geographical criteria, if any, should be applied in determining whether a person should be exempted or excused from jury service?

On what terms, if any, should people be exempted or excused from jury service on the grounds of previous jury service or attendance for jury service?

What provision, if any, should be made for people who have a conscientious objection to jury service?

Should those, or some of those, within the present category of exemption as of right, be required instead to apply to be excused from jury service by demonstrating a good cause?

Should there be a statutory list of “good reasons” for excusing a person from jury service or should the power to excuse be left at large to be exercised at the discretion of the Sheriff or of the trial judge or coroner?

If the former, what reasons should be included on that list?

Should there be published guidelines for excusing people from jury service?

Should they be in addition to or instead of any statutory list of reasons?

What reasons should the guidelines identify as constituting good cause?

Should there be a right of appeal against a decision not to excuse a person for good reason?

What provision, if any, should be made for potential jurors to defer jury service?

Should it be possible to reallocate potential jurors to serve in a trial that would avoid or limit the hardship that may be occasioned by requiring them to serve in the trial to which their panel is allocated?

How should the geographic areas from which jurors are chosen for particular courts be selected?

What provision, if any, should be made for people to volunteer for jury service?

What additional strategies could be adopted to make jury service more convenient for jurors?

What strategies could be adopted to accommodate jurors and potential jurors better?

Are the current procedures and penalties for enforcing jury service adequate?

Are the current provisions protecting a juror’s employment during jury service adequate?

Should employers be prevented from requiring jurors to work at times when they are not required for jury service?

Are the provisions for the reimbursement and/or compensation of jurors and potential jurors who attend for jury service adequate?