Law Weblog

More on juries. Consultation on investigation into jury deliberations. Jurors protected against being sacked for doing jury service.

Saturday 22 January 2005 at 8:22 pm | In News | Post Comment

From 6th April the new Employment Relations Act 2004 makes it illegal to sack someone because they have been summoned for, or completed jury service.
Government officials are aware of two cases where employees had been dismissed because of jury service.
Whilst most employers recognise and respect jury service as an important civic duty, these reforms are necessary to protect staff, particularly those with less than a year in their current employment, and increase public confidence in the jury system.

In addition, a consultation paper on Jury Research and Impropriety has been published. The consultation paper covers allegations of juror impropriety that could include discrimination, trying to influence a verdict and deliberately ignoring evidence. Any of these could result in a trial collapsing or a conviction being appealed, with enormous emotional and financial consequences for all involved, especially the victim.

In October 2001 Sir Robin Auld recommended that Section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act should be amended to permit, where appropriate, enquiry by the trial judge and/or the Court of Appeal into alleged impropriety by a jury, whether in the course of its deliberations or otherwise. This was recommended as part of his Review of the Criminal Justice System.

In 2003 the Home Affairs Select Committee, in its report on the Criminal Justice Bill, invited the Government to consider the merits of repealing Section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to permit research into how the jury system operates.