Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland
Juries
Made
10th March 2010
Coming into operation
9th April 2010
To be laid before Parliament
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Article 30(1) of the Juries (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(1) hereby makes the following Regulations.
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Juries (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland 2010 and shall come into operation on 9th April 2010.
2. Schedule 1 to the Juries Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(2) shall be amended as follows.
3.—(1) In Form 1—
(a)under “WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW”—
(i)for “fill in”, substitute “complete”; and
(ii)after “WITHIN 14 DAYS.”, insert “(You may complete the form online by visiting (web site address).)”;
(b)in Section A—
(i)under “PERSONS NOT QUALIFIED AND DISQUALIFIED FOR JURY SERVICE”, for “Coronor’s Court”, substitute “coroners’ court”; and
(ii)in paragraph 3(c), after “made in respect of him” and before “a suspended sentence of imprisonment”, remove the words “a recorded sentence of imprisonment,”;
(c)in Section B—
(i)for “Justices of the peace”, substitute “Lay magistrate”;
(ii)remove the entry “Members of the juvenile court panels”;
(iii)for “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and members of his staff”, substitute “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and the members of staff of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland”;
(iv)after the entry “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and members of his staff”, insert “The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland and the members of his staff.”;
(v)after the entry “Members of the Northern Ireland Court Service”, insert “Court security officers.”;
(vi)for “Governors, chaplains and other officers of, and members of boards of visitors of visiting committees for”, substitute “Governors, chaplains and other officers of, and members of independent monitoring boards for”;
(vii)for “a remand home, training school or attendance centre within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968”, substitute “a juvenile justice centre or attendance centre within the meaning of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”;
(viii)for “Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve”, substitute “Police officers”;
(ix)for “Members and staff of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland and persons employed for police purposes by the Police Authority for Northern Ireland”, substitute “Members and staff of the Policing Board”; and
(x)for “Members and staff of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints for Northern Ireland”, substitute “The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and persons employed by him”; and
(d)in Section C—
(i)after the entries under the heading “Northern Ireland Assembly”, insert—
Members of the Scottish Parliament.
Members of the Scottish Executive.
Junior Scottish Ministers.”;
(ii)for “The Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration”, substitute “The Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland”;
(iii)after the entry “The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland”, insert “The Auditor General for Scotland.”; and
(iv)for “Commissioners of Customs and Excise, or Commissioners of Inland Revenue”, substitute “Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs”.
(2) In Form 2—
(a)at the start of the Form, insert—
“You may complete this form online by visiting (web site address).”
(b)for “(Here state the name, address and reference number of the person to whom the Notice is to be sent.)”, substitute “(Here state the name, address, web site address and any reference numbers of the person to whom the Notice is to be sent.)”;
(c)after “MAKE A FALSE STATEMENT” and before “YOU WILL BE LIABLE”, insert “OR DO NOT FULLY COMPLETE IT TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF,”;
(d)in Part I, question 2, after “occupation”, insert “(if you are not employed, please state your employment status, e.g. unemployed, retired, student)”;
(e)renumber questions 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 and 16 respectively as 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 and 11;
(f)in Part IV, after question 13, for “questions 11 and 13”, substitute “questions 8 and 10”; and
(g)after Part V, insert—
“You are requested to provide additional details to enable us to contact you if there are any queries with your form.
Home telephone number
Mobile telephone number
Email address
In the event that you are called for jury service, this information may be used to keep you informed about when you are required to attend.”.
(3) In Form 3, before “Failure to attend the court”, insert “Unless you are subsequently advised not to attend court,”.
(4) In Form 4—
(a)in Section A—
(i)under “PERSONS NOT QUALIFIED AND DISQUALIFIED FOR JURY SERVICE”, for “Coronor’s Court”, substitute “coroners’ court”; and
(ii)in paragraph 3(c), after “made in respect of him” and before “a suspended sentence of imprisonment”, remove the words “a recorded sentence of imprisonment,”;
(b)in Section B—
(i)for “Justices of the peace”, substitute “Lay magistrate”;
(ii)remove the entry “Members of the juvenile court panels”;
(iii)for “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and members of his staff”, substitute “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and the members of staff of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland”;
(iv)after the entry “The Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland and members of his staff”, insert “The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland and the members of his staff.”;
(v)after the entry “Members of the Northern Ireland Court Service”, insert “Court security officers.”;
(vi)for “Governors, chaplains and other officers of, and members of boards of visitors of visiting committees for”, substitute “Governors, chaplains and other officers of, and members of independent monitoring boards for”;
(vii)for “a remand home, training school or attendance centre within the meaning of the Children and Young Persons Act (Northern Ireland) 1968”, substitute “a juvenile justice centre or attendance centre within the meaning of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998”;
(viii)for “Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Royal Ulster Constabulary Reserve”, substitute “Police officers”;
(ix)for “Members and staff of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland and persons employed for police purposes by the Police Authority for Northern Ireland”, substitute “Members and staff of the Policing Board”; and
(x)for “Members and staff of the Independent Commission for Police Complaints for Northern Ireland”, substitute “The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and persons employed by him”; and
(c)in Section C—
(i)after the entries under the heading “Northern Ireland Assembly”, insert—
Members of the Scottish Parliament.
Members of the Scottish Executive.
Junior Scottish Ministers.”;
(ii)for “The Northern Ireland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration”, substitute “The Assembly Ombudsman for Northern Ireland”;
(iii)after the entry “The Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland”, insert “The Auditor General for Scotland.”; and
(iv)for “Commissioners of Customs and Excise, or Commissioners of Inland Revenue”, substitute “Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs”.
Signed by the authority of the Lord Chancellor
Michael Wills
Minister of State
Ministry of Justice
Dated 10th March 2010
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Juries Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 269) so as to facilitate administrative improvements in relation to jury notices and jury summonses, and to update the entries to Form 1 and Form 4 in respect of the categories of person disqualified and ineligible for jury service and excusable from jury service as of right.