 JURY-
is a panel of everyday citizens that
are summonsed by a court to determine
the verdict of a case in which one of their
peers from society is on trial.
 Jury
duty- is part of our
responsibility as citizens
& you are fined if you do
not attend when you are
called for duty.
Jurors are paid $36.00 per day for the first
6 days
AND
$72.00 per day for each day after that.
An employer must release you for jury
duty.
$112.00 over 12 months.
 Criminal
 Civil
there are 12 jurors
there are 6 jurors, however they are
optional in a civil case, either the
defendant or plaintiff must request to
have their case heard by a jury. The cost
of the jury is borne by the parties in the
case, not taxpayers like in a criminal
case.


The main role of the jury is to hear ALL the
evidence presented from both parties within the
courtroom and come to either a majority** or
unanimous decision regarding the guilt/liability
of the defendant on trial.
They DO NOT decide on the sanction given if
found guilty in a criminal trial, however they can
determine the amount of damages awarded if
present in a civil case.
*Majority decisions are not accepted in murder trials and some drug
offences unless after 6 hours the jury cannot reach a unanimous
decision.
 The
names of potential jurors are
selected from the register of electors for
the jury district in which the case is
being held.
 The juries commissioner estimates the
number of jurors required in each of the
jury districts and informs the Electoral
Commissioner.
 The
juries commissioner then prepares a
draft jury roll from the people listed on
the register of electors (electoral roll)
 Juries
commissioner sends a “Notice of
Jury Selection” & questionnaire to all
people who have been randomly
selected from the electoral roll.
 Must be answered & returned within 14
days.
 Questionnaire helps determine eligibility
for jury service.
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 Many
individuals are not able to serve on
a jury because they are either consider
to be;
INELIGIBLE
DISQUALIFIED or
EXCUSED
 People
who are too closely related or
involved in the court process. Eg: police,
lawyers, court reporters or judges.
ALSO
 People
who have a disability which
would render them incapable of jury
service eg: intellectual disability, people
who are deaf or blind, and people that
cannot speak English.
 Individual
who has been sentenced to at
least 3 years imprisonment as a result of
committing an indictable offence.
 People
on remand at the time of call for
jury duty.
A
person who has been declared
bankrupt.
 Excused
for good reason: a person can apply to
juries commissioner to be excused for jury
service for a good reason;
-Illness/poor health
-Incapacity
-Substantial hardship would result
-Substantial financial hardship
-Advanced age
-Substantial inconvenience to
public would result.
 Excused
permanently: person can
apply to juries commissioner to be
permanently excused due to;
 Continued poor health
 Disability
 Advanced age
 Responses
to questionnaires are
screened for those who are eligible for
jury service.
 A list of potential jurors
is drawn up.
 Individuals
receive a summons not less
than 10 days before they are required to
appear in court.
 Not
all people summons at this stage will
actually serve on a jury panel.
 Members
of the jury pool are selected for
every case at random through a ballot. The
name and occupation of every potential
juror is written onto the card.
A
card for each juror is placed in the ballot
box, and when the jurors name is read out,
are allocated to the relevant courtroom.
THE INDIVIDUAL IS STILL NOT A
MEMBER OF THE JURY AT THIS STAGE!
 After
members have been allocated
courtrooms, a card for each juror is again
placed into a ballot box.
 Members will be told:





Type of action
Name of the accused
Names of the principal witnesses
Estimated length of the trial
Any other relevant information.
 The
judges associate then draws out a
card and states the jurors name and
occupation. The selected juror is asked to
walk across the courtroom, passed the
defendant in the dock and take their
place in the jury box.
 This
will continue until the required
number of jurors are selected.
 Both
the defendant and the prosecution
in a criminal case can challenge a
potential juror.
 Both
sides have the ability to challenge 6
individuals peremptory & can challenge
a potential juror with cause unlimited
times.
 Either
party may challenge a potential juror
with a good reason as to why they don’t feel
as though that individual should serve on
the jury. These challenges are RARE.
Eg: If a young 23 school teacher was a
potential juror, and the accused was on trial
for a rape of a young 23 year old school
teacher, then the defence might argue that
the individual will have a biased account of
the case and therefore should not serve on
the jury.
 Either
party can challenge or strike out a
potential juror for not reason at all.
 Each side is able to do this 6 times for a
criminal case & 3 times for a civil case.
Individuals
selected from
electoral roll &
questionnaire's
are sent to
prospective
jurors.
Potential juror
has their name
& occupation
read out, if not
challenged, is
sworn in and
becomes a
member of the
jury panel.
Individual
receives
summons &
appears in jury
pool room at
specified court.
Waits here until
name is
randomly drawn
to attend a
courtroom.
 Identies
and information on the
delibrations of the jury are not prohibited
during the trial.
 After the trial generally this information
can be disclosed as long as the names of
the jurors and relevant legal proceedings
are not revealed.