Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014

66 Discharge or death of juror during trial

(1) In jury proceedings, the sheriff may, in the course of the trial, discharge a member of the jury from further service on the jury if satisfied that the juror—

(a) is, by reason of illness, unable to continue to serve on the jury, or

(b) should, for any other reason, be discharged from further service on the jury.

(2) Subsections (3) and (4) apply where a member of the jury—

(a) is discharged under subsection (1), or

(b) dies.

(3) So long as there remain at least 10 members of the jury—

(a) the remaining members of the jury are in all respects deemed to constitute the jury for the purpose of the trial, and

(b) any verdict returned by the remaining members of the jury, whether unanimous or by majority, is to have the same force and effect as if it were a unanimous or, as the case may be, majority verdict of the whole number of the jury.

(4) If there remain fewer than 10 members of the jury, the sheriff must—

(a) discharge the jury, and

(b) order the proceedings to be tried by another jury.