Legislation to note: Jury Amendment Bill 2008

19/05/2008

The Jury Amendment Bill 2008 was introduced into the Legislative Council on 15 May and has received its second reading speech. The objects of this Bill, as provided in the explanatory notes, are to amend the Jury Act 1977 to implement (with some modifications) certain recommendations of the NSW Law Reform Commission; and to amend the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 to enable appeals to be made, with the leave of the Court of Criminal Appeal, about decisions concerning the discharge of a jury.

The Bill amends the Jury Act 1977:

• to clarify the power of a court or coroner to discharge a juror by expressly setting out the circumstances in which a court or coroner must, or may, discharge a member of a jury during a trial or coronial inquest, and
• to set out the circumstances in which a court or coroner that discharges a juror must discharge the remaining jurors or may instead continue the trial or coronial inquest with the remaining jurors, and
• to give a court or coroner the express power to order that a trial or coronial inquest continue if a juror dies, and
• to ensure that the verdict of a jury is not invalidated if a juror who was summonsed for jury service is empanelled irregularly or by mistake or becomes disqualified from serving, or ineligible to serve, as a juror during a trial or coronial inquest, and
• to expressly enable jurors and former jurors to report misconduct and other irregularities in the conduct of other jurors and former jurors, respectively.

The Bill also makes amendments of a savings and transitional nature and to enable the making of savings and transitional regulations.

View the Jury Amendment Bill 2008�>

19 May 2008