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Juries Act 1949

1949 CHAPTER 27 12 13 and 14 Geo 6

An Act to provide for the making of payments in respect of jury service in Great Britain; to abolish special juries in Great Britain except in commercial causes tried in London; to abolish the privilege of landed persons in relation to jury trial in Scotland; to empower the Parliament of Northern Ireland to make laws providing for the payment of jurors in His Majesty’s High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland and the abolition of special juries in that Court; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.

[26th April 1949]

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1Whole Act except as it applies to Scotland repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1978 (c. 45), s. 1, Sch. 1 Pt. I

Part IU.K.

1—23.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1U.K.

Textual Amendments

Part IIS Scotland

24 Payments in respect of jury service in Scotland.S

[F2(1)Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, a person who serves as a juror shall be entitled, in respect of his attendance at court for the purpose of performing jury service, to receive payments, at rates determined by the Secretary of State F3. . . and subject to any prescribed conditions, by way of allowance—

(a)for travelling and subsistence; and

(b)for financial loss, where in consequence of his attendance for that purpose he has incurred any expenditure (other than on travelling and subsistence) to which he would not otherwise be subject or he has suffered any loss of earnings, or of benefit under the enactments relating to social security, which he would otherwise have made or received.]

(2)For the purposes of this section, a person who, in obedience to a citation to serve on a jury, attends for service as a juror, shall be deemed to serve as a juror notwithstanding that he is not subsequently impanelled.

(3)A payment to which a person is entitled under this section is in this Part of this Act referred to as “a payment in respect of jury service”.

Textual Amendments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2S. 24(1): certain functions of the Minister for the Civil Service are transferred to the Treasury and references to that Minister are to be construed as mentioned in S.I. 1981/1670, arts. 2(2), 3(5)

25 Person by whom the amount of a payment is to be ascertained and paid.S

(1)The amount due to a person by way of a payment in respect of jury service shall be ascertained and paid—

(a)in the case of service at a sitting of the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh or in the Court of Session, by [F4the Secretary of State] or such other officer as may be prescribed;

(b)in the case of service at a sitting of the High Court of Justiciary [F5other than at Edinburgh], or of the sheriff court, whether for a civil or a criminal trial, by the sheriff clerk of the [F6sheriffdom] in which such sitting is held;

(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F7

(d)in the case of service on a jury summoned under the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act M11845, by the sheriff clerk of the court to which the petition to summon the jury is presented.

(2)The sums required for the making of payments in pursuance to paragraphs (a) [F8and (b)] of the last foregoing subsection shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.

26 Fee payable by party applying for jury trial in civil cause.S

(1)Where an order is made—

(a)for the trial of any action by a jury in the Court of Session whether such action originated in that Court or was removed thereto under section thirty of the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act M21907, or

(b)for the trial of any action by a jury in the sheriff court,

the person on whose application such order is made shall pay to the clerk of court such fee as may be fixed by [F9an order made by the Secretary of State]. . ., and in the event of his failure to do so within such time as may be [F10so] fixed . . . F11the court may recall the order.

(2)A fee payable in pursuance of the last foregoing subsection shall form part of the expenses of the action and shall be returned to the person who paid it in the event of the trial not being proceeded with and no person being cited to attend for service as a juror thereat.

27 Consequential amendments of Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1845.S

Payments in respect of service on a jury summoned under the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act M31845, shall—

(a)for the purposes of section fifty of that Act (which determines the manner in which the expenses of an inquiry by a jury are to be borne) be deemed to be expenses of the inquiry;

(b)for the purposes of section fifty-one of that Act (which provides for the determination of the amount of such expenses) be deemed to be reasonable expenses incurred in summoning, impanelling and returning the jury.

Marginal Citations

28 Abolition of special juries and special jurors.S

(1)No issue or question shall be tried or determined by a special jury and no person shall be cited or summoned to serve as a special juror for the trial or determination of any issue or question, and any enactment requiring the preparation of a roll of special jurors or of a special jury book or the inclusion in a jury of special jurors shall cease to have effect.

(2)The privilege to which a landed person is entitled of being tried by a jury comprising a majority of landed persons is hereby abolished.

29 Consequential and minor amendments. S

The amendments specified in the third column of the First Schedule to this Act, being amendments of a minor or consequential nature, shall be made in the enactments specified in the first and second columns of that Schedule.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C3The text of s. 29 and Sch. 1 is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and, except as specified, does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991

30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F12S

31 Discontinuance of terms “common jury” and “common juror”.S

As from the expiration of the month of September, nineteen hundred and forty-nine, the expressions “common jury” and “common juror” shall cease to be used.

32 Interpretation of Part II.S

(1)In this Part of this Act the expression “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State F13. . ..

The power conferred by this subsection on the Secretary of State shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

(2)Any reference in this Part of this Act to the Lands Clauses Consolidation (Scotland Act M41845, or to any provision thereof shall be construed as including a reference to that Act or to that provision as the case may be, as incorporated in any Act whether public general or local.

Textual Amendments

Marginal Citations

33 Extent of Part II.S

This Part of this Act shall extend to Scotland only.

Part IIIU.K.

34. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F14U.K.

Part IVU.K. Short Title, &c.

35†Short title, citation and repeal.U.K.

(1)This Act may be cited as the Juries Act 1949.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F15

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F16

Textual Amendments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C4Unreliable margin note

SCHEDULES

Section 29

FIRST SCHEDULES Minor and Consequential Amendments of Scottish Enactments

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C5The text of s. 29 and Sch. 1 is in the form in which it was originally enacted: it was not reproduced in Statutes in Force and, except as specified, does not reflect any amendments or repeals which may have been made prior to 1.2.1991

Session and ChapterShort TitleNature of Amendment
6 Geo. 4. c. 22The Jurors (Scotland) Act, 1825In section five, for the words “as well in the general as in the special jury book as aforesaid” there shall be substituted the words “in the general jury book”; in section eight, for the words “and special jury books” there shall be substituted the words “jury book”; in section nine for the word “books” there shall be substituted the word “book”; in section seventeen for the words from “and the names” to “the other box” there shall be substituted the words “and to be put into a box or glass and mixed and the clerk shall draw out the said pieces of paper or parchment one by one from the box or glass”.
. . . F17 . . . F17 . . . F17
50 & 51 Vict. c. 35.The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1887.In section thirty-nine for the words “lists of special and common jurors respectively” there shall be substituted the word “list”.
58 & 59 Vict. c. 36.The Fatal Accidents Inquiry (Scotland) Act, 1895.In section four, in subsection (4) for the words “ten common and five special” there shall be substituted the word “fifteen”; and in subsection (5) for the words “five common and two special” there shall be substituted the word “seven”.
7 Edw. 7. c. 51The Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act, 1907.In the First Schedule, for rule 133 there shall be substituted the following rule:— “133. The jury shall be chosen from a panel of fifteen jurors to be cited for the diet”; in rule 135 for the words “one special and one common juror” there shall be substituted the words “two jurors”.

F18F18SCHEDULES 2, 3U.K.

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