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Lord Chancellor's Department
Press Notice
31 August 2000
REDUCING THE TRIALS OF JURY SERVICE
Jurors in England and Wales are set to benefit from radical changes to the jury
summoning system, which begins roll-out today (4 September 2000)
A Central Summoning Bureau, based at Blackfriars Crown Court Centre in London,
will use a new computer system to select jurors at random from electoral rolls,
issue summonses and deal with jurors' responses. This will modernise the current
'Dickensian' system and offer higher levels of customer service by:
ensuring that all jurors are treated equally and fairly, and the
rules enforced consistently, by centralising at the Bureau all
decision-making on requests to be excused from jury service or have
it deferred;
more accurately identifying the number of jurors needed by the
courts so fewer jurors are summoned only to be stood down and jurors
spend more time sitting on trials and less time waiting around.
David Lock, Minister at the Lord Chancellor's Department said:
"Jury service is an integral part of our Justice system. Around 250,000
people serve on juries every year fulfilling this important public duty. They
provide an important direct link between the citizen and the administration of
justice.
"This new jury summoning system today replaces a 'Dickensian' system, with
Jury Summoning Officers in courts up and down the country selecting names at
random from paper copies of the electoral register and laboriously producing
individual summonses and then each dealing with responses.
"This has inevitably led to inconsistencies between courts in the way
jurors are treated and summoning the right number of jurors has relied heavily
on experience.
"The new system being rolled out by the Court Service today will radically
transform jury summoning to provide a more consistent approach, reduce costs and
offer higher levels of customer service to those who undertake this important
duty."
Ian Magee, Chief Executive of the Court Service said:
"The Court Service has a vital role to play in modernising the criminal
justice system. The new jury summoning system being rolled out from today is
part of that modernisation.
"We are committed to maintaining at 95% the level of jurors who are
satisfied or very satisfied with their treatment by the court and aim to
increase by 5% those who are very satisfied. This new system along with other
improvements taken forward under our Crown Court Programme
will help us achieve our aim."
Other benefits of the new jury summoning system, which has been tested
successfully at seven courts - Swansea, Bradford, Bristol, Burnley, Chelmsford,
Nottingham and Woolwich - over the past year, include:
avoiding potential delays by linking the jury summoning system
early next year to the police criminal records system to
automatically check prospective jurors for previous convictions which
disqualify them from doing jury service - becoming the first
electronic link between criminal justice organisations to involve the
Crown Court. a national call centre at the Central Summoning Bureau
will deal with enquires from people summoned for jury service;
correspondence with jurors has been reviewed to reduce the numbers
of jurors who do not turn up at court and confirmation letters will
now be sent informing jurors of the date of attendance;
claims for expenses and financial loss will be paid more quickly
and can be paid direct into jurors' bank accounts instead of by
cheque;
Roll out of the new system will take place over the next three months, with
Crown Courts at Harrow, Snaresbrook, Wood Green, Durham, Kingston-upon-Hull and
Leeds beginning to use the system from today.
These Courts will today send an electronic request for the number of jurors they
need to the Bureau where staff use the new system to select jurors at random and
send their details to be automatically printed onto summonses and sent out.
People summoned for jury service then send their forms back to the Bureau where
they are automatically scanned onto the system and checked. Letters are then
sent out confirming either excusal or attendance at x court on x date and
enclosing information about being a juror and directions to the court.
When a juror arrives at the court for jury service staff will have all their
details on the computer system including their status for example green = never
been a juror before and any special needs. This information can be brought up on
screen by scanning in a barcode which appears next to each jurors name on a
print-out from the system.
Notes for editors:
1. Home Office Research Findings No 102 Jury Excusal and Deferral revealed
differences in treatment by Courts, such as the treatment of reluctant jurors.
For further information see Home Office press release 348/99 available with the
Research Findings on the Home Office website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
2. The dates for implementation are as follows:
Date Court Date Court
4 Sept 2000 Harrow 16 Oct 2000 Coventry
Snaresbrook Oxford
Wood Green Wolverhampton
Durham Guildford
Kingston-upon-Hull Luton
Leeds Maidstone
11 Sept 2000 Inner London 23 Oct 2000 Derby
Middlesex Guildhall Great Grimsby
Southwark Stafford
Sheffield Newport (IoW)
Teesside Teesside
Southampton
Winchester
18 Sept 2000 Blackfriars 30 Oct 2000 Shrewsbury
Croydon Warwick
Kingston-upon-Thames Worcester
Doncaster Exeter
Newcastle Taunton
York Weymouth & Dorchester
25 Sept 2000 Norwich 6 Nov 2000 Canterbury
Central Criminal Court
(Old Bailey)
Isleworth Lewes
Cardiff Basildon
Chester Bournemouth
Warrington Gloucester
Truro
2 Oct 2000 Merthyr Tydfil 13 Nov 2000 Carlisle
Newport (S Wales) Manchester Crown Square
Birmingham Preston
Leicester Chichester
Lincoln Reading
Northampton St Albans
9 Oct 2000 Peterborough 20 Nov 2000 Aylesbury
Stoke Cambridge
Plymouth Ipswich
Portsmouth Bolton
Salisbury Liverpool
Swindon Manchester Minshull
Street
