Juries
Section 10: Restrictions on disclosure of juror information
40.This section inserts new Articles 26A to 26C into the Juries (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 to place restrictions on the disclosure of information which identifies a person as being or having been a juror or potential juror.
41.New Article 26A makes it an offence, broadly speaking, for:
an electoral officer;
a court official;
a person providing services to the Northern Ireland Court Service;
a member of the police;
a person provided with juror information in accordance with jury check guidelines;
a juror or person summoned as a juror; or
any other person who knows (or ought to know) that relevant juror information has previously been unlawfully disclosed,
to unlawfully disclose juror information.
42.New Article 26A(8) provides that the offence may be tried:
summarily with a maximum penalty of 6 months’ imprisonment, or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (currently £5,000), or both; or
on indictment with a maximum penalty of 2 years’ imprisonment or a fine or both.
43.It shall be a defence for a person to prove that he reasonably believed the disclosure was lawful (new Article 26A(9)).
44.New Article 26B sets out the circumstances in which juror information may be disclosed with lawful authority. These include disclosure:
by an electoral officer to another electoral officer or for the purpose of preparing the annual list of potential jurors in accordance with Article 4 of the 1996 Order;
by a court official to another court official, to a judge, or to a juror or person summoned as a juror;
to a person or his employee in connection with the provision of services to the Northern Ireland Court Service;
by a person or his employee providing services to the Northern Ireland Court Service if required by an officer of the court in connection with the provision of those services;
for the purposes of carrying out additional jury checks as authorised by jury check guidelines;
for the purposes of criminal proceedings, other than those in relation to which the juror in question has been called to serve as a juror; and
made with leave of a court.
45.New Article 26C contains definitions of terms used in new Articles 26A and 26B.
46.Subsection (2) introduces Schedule 2. Subsection (3) provides that new Articles 26A to 26C will not apply in relation to any juror information that relates to service on a jury before the date when the provisions came into force. Nor will they apply in relation to information made available in jurors lists prepared before that date under Article 4 or 7 of the Juries (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
