New jury service rules about to become law

File photo / NZ Herald

A set of new rules governing jury service is set to become law this week.

The Juries (Jury Service and Protection of Particulars of Jury List Information) Amendment Bill amends the Juries Act 1981.

The changes include banning people on home detention from serving as jurors and placing stricter protections on the personal details of members of the jury, particularly their home addresses and contact details.

Justice Minister Judith Collins said the bill was a response to concerns about access to juror addresses and details and recognised they should be protected.

Only allow certain people will be allowed to view protected particulars under the bill, which has its third reading this week.

The justice and electoral committee received three written submissions on the bill and two people chose to speak to the committee.

Originally the bill looked to excuse people over 65 who wrote to courts asking to be excused from jury service.

The Human Rights Commission advised the committee not to go ahead with this idea, calling it ageist.

The committee have gone ahead and given people over the age of 65 the right to say they want to be permanently excused from jury service.

CHANGES:

- People who have been sentenced to three months or more home detention in the past five years will not be able to serve on the jury.

- A person serving a current sentence of home detention will be not be able to be on a jury.

- The registrar may permanently excuse people from jury service if they meet certain criteria, such as chronic ill health or permanent disability.

- Address details of jurors will be removed from the jury panel and put on a separate document, that can only be viewed by eligible people.

- People over 65 can be permanently excused from jury service.