Jury Duty And Selection

In New South Wales, most criminal trials in the District and Supreme Court of New South Wales will proceed before a Judge and Jury unless the accused is granted a Judge-alone trial. Members of the community, subject to some exceptions, are eligible to be called for jury duty. Juries are governed under the Jury Act 1977. This article provides information about juries, jury duty and jury selection in New South Wales.

What is a Jury:

A jury is a collection of randomly selected members of the New South Wales community that serve the purpose of determining whether an accused person is guilty or not guilty of the offence/s charged. There are usually 12 people on a jury, however additional and alternate jurors can be involved for long matters. 

Who Can Serve on Jury Duty:

Jurors are selected from the New South Wales electoral roll. Practically, only persons that are eligible to vote are eligible to serve on a jury. 

Getting Out of Jury Duty:

A person can apply to the Sheriff’s Office to be excused from jury duty if they have a particular reason for being unable to do jury duty. A person can be excused either temporarily or permanently. Section 7 of the Jury Act 1997 allows exemptions to be claimed by persons listed in Schedule 3 some including clergy, practicing dentists, pharmacists, doctors, self employed persons, persons over 70, pregnant people, parents and those with caring responsibilities.

Exclusions from Jury Duty:

• A person who at any time within the last 10 years in NSW or elsewhere has served any part of a sentence of imprisonment (not being imprisonment merely for failure to pay a fine),
• A person who at any time within the last 3 years in NSW or elsewhere has been found guilty of an offence and detained in a detention centre or other institution for juvenile offenders (not being detention merely for failure to pay a fine),
• A person who is currently bound by an order made in NSW or elsewhere for a criminal charge or conviction, not including an order for compensation, but including the following:
  • a parole order, a community service order, an apprehended violence order or an order disqualifying the person from driving a motor vehicle,
  • an order committing the person to prison for failure to pay a fine,
  • a good behavior bond, a remand in custody pending trial or sentence and a release on bail pending trial or sentence.
• The Governor, a current or former judicial officer, a coroner, a member or officer of the Executive Council, a member of the Legislative Council or Legislative Assembly, Officers and other staff of either or both of the Houses of Parliament, the Ombudsman and a Deputy Ombudsman,
• an Australian lawyer (whether or not an Australian legal practitioner),
• a person 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,
• a person who is unable to read or understand English, and
• a person who is unable, because of sickness, infirmity or disability, to discharge the duties of juror.

Jury Selection at Court:

The Ballot Process and Empanelment

A jury is ‘empaneled’ in the courtroom before the Judge. Each juror is given a number on a ticket and the Judge’s associate will draw the tickets randomly from the ballot box (the ballot process’). Once 12 numbers have been called, both the prosecution and defence can ‘challenge’ up to three potential jurors. In New South Wales no information about a juror, such as their profession or their age, is provided to the parties. Once the selection of the jury is complete, all others who have attended for jury duty are dismissed.

Juror Challenge

A challenge is an objection to a juror being summoned to become part of the jury. Where a juror is challenged the juror will not sit on the jury panel and will be dismissed from jury service. The reasons that a particular person may be challenged by your lawyer or the crown are wide and varied. A challenge to a juror in criminal proceedings can be made only after the juror has been called to be sworn, and before the juror is sworn.