Juries Act 1974
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
Juries Act 1974
1974 CHAPTER 23
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to juries, jurors and jury service with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949.
[9th July 1974]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Qualification for jury service.
1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, every person shall be qualified to serve as a juror in the Crown Court, the High Court and county courts and be liable accordingly to attend for jury service when summoned under this Act, if—
but not if he is for the time being ineligible or disqualified for jury service; and the persons who are ineligible, and those who are disqualified, are those respectively listed in Parts I and II of Schedule 1 to this Act.
2 Summoning.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Lord Chancellor shall be responsible for the summoning of jurors to attend for service in the Crown Court, the High Court and county courts and for determining the occasions on which they are to attend when so summoned, and the number to be summoned.
(2) In making arrangements to discharge his duty under subsection (1) above the Lord Chancellor shall have regard to the convenience of the persons summoned and to their respective places of residence, and in particular to the desirability of selecting jurors within reasonable daily travelling distance of the place where they are to attend.
(3) Subject to subsection (2) above, there shall be no restriction on the places in England and Wales at which a person may be required to attend or serve on a jury under this Act.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, jurors shall be so summoned by notice in writing sent by post, or delivered by hand.
For the purposes of section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 (presumption as to receipt of letter properly addressed and sent by post) the notice shall be regarded as properly addressed if the address is that shown in the electoral register, and a notice so addressed, and delivered by hand to that address, shall be deemed to have been delivered personally to the person to whom it is addressed unless the contrary is proved.
(5) A written summons sent or delivered to any person under subsection (4) above shall be accompanied by a notice informing him—
(a ) of the effect of sections 1, 9(1), 10 and 20(5) of this Act; and
(b ) that he may make representations to the appropriate officer with a view to obtaining the withdrawal of the summons, if for any reason he is not qualified for jury service, or wishes or is entitled to be excused;
and where a person attends in pursuance of such a summons, or of a summons under section 6 of this Act, the appropriate officer may put or cause to be put to him such questions as the officer thinks fit in order to establish whether or not the person is qualified for jury service.
(6) A certificate signed by the appropriate officer and stating that a written summons under this Act, properly addressed and prepaid, was posted by him shall be admissible as evidence in any proceedings, and shall be so admissible without proof of his signature or official character.
3 Electoral register as basis of jury selection.
(1) Every electoral registration officer under the Representation of the People Act 1949 shall as soon as practicable after the publication of any register of electors for his area deliver to such officer as the Lord Chancellor may designate such number of copies of the register as the designated officer may require for the purpose of summoning jurors, and on each copy there shall be indicated those persons on the register whom the registration officer has ascertained to be, or to have been on a date also indicated on the copy, less than eighteen or more than sixty-five years of age.
(2) The reference in subsection (1) above to a register of electors does not include a ward list within the meaning of section 4(1) of the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957 .
(3) In Schedule 4 to the said Act of 1949 (provisions which may be contained in regulations as to registration) the new paragraph 2A, and the additional words ‘or 2A’ in paragraph 12(1), inserted by section 26(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1972 ,shall continue to have effect notwithstanding the repeal of that section by this Act, but for the reference to that section in the said paragraph 2A there shall be substituted a reference to subsection (1) above.
4 Withdrawal or alteration of summonses.
4. If it appears to the appropriate officer, at any time before the day on which any person summoned under section 2 of this Act is first to attend, that his attendance is unnecessary, or can be dispensed with on any particular day or days, the appropriate officer may withdraw or alter the summons by notice served in the same way as a notice of summons.
5 Panels.
(1) The arrangements to be made by the Lord Chancellor under this Act shall include the preparation of lists (called panels) of persons summoned as jurors, and the information to be included in panels, the court sittings for which they are prepared, their division into parts or sets (whether according to the day of first attendance or otherwise), their enlargement or amendment, and all other matters relating to the contents and form of the panels shall be such as the Lord Chancellor may from time to time direct.
(2) A party to proceedings in which jurors are or may be called on to try an issue, and any person acting on behalf of a party to such proceedings, shall be entitled to reasonable facilities for inspecting the panel from which the jurors are or will be drawn.
(3) The right conferred by subsection (2) above shall not be exercisable after the close of the trial by jury (or after the time when it is no longer possible for there to be a trial by jury).
(4) The court may, if it thinks fit, at any time afford to any person facilities for inspecting the panel, although not given the right by subsection (2) above.
6 Summoning in exceptional circumstances.
(1) If it appears to the court that a jury to try any issue before the court will be, or probably will be, incomplete, the court may, if the court thinks fit, require any persons who are in, or in the vicinity of, the court, to be summoned (without any written notice) for jury service up to the number needed (after allowing for any who may not be qualified under section 1 of this Act, and for refusals and challenges) to make up a full jury.
(2) The names of the persons so summoned shall be added to the panel and the court shall proceed as if those so summoned had been included in the panel in the first instance.
7 Attendance and service.
7. Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person summoned under this Act shall attend for so many days as may be directed by the summons or by the appropriate officer, and shall be liable to serve on any jury (in the Crown Court or the High Court or any county court) at the place to which he is summoned, or in the vicinity.
8 Excusal for previous jury service.
(1) If a person summoned under this Act shows to the satisfaction of the appropriate officer, or of the court (or any of the courts) to which he is summoned—
(a ) that he has served on a jury, or duly attended to serve on a jury, in the prescribed period ending with the service of the summons on him, or
(b ) that the Crown Court or any other court has excused him from jury service for a period which has not terminated.
the officer or court shall excuse him from attending, or further attending, in pursuance of the summons.
(2) In subsection (1) above ‘the prescribed period’ means two years or such longer period as the Lord Chancellor may prescribe by order made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament, and any such order may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order under this subsection.
(3) Records of persons summoned under this Act, and of persons included in panels, shall be kept in such manner as the Lord Chancellor may direct, and the Lord Chancellor may, if he thinks fit, make arrangements for allowing inspection of the records so kept by members of the public in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as...
To continue reading
Request your trial