A Guide to Jury Duty
March 2007
Q - Who can
be a juror?
A - In Nova Scotia you are eligible for jury duty
if you are a Canadian citizen and aged 18 or over. Jurors must have lived within
their jury district for the previous 12 months. The Juries Act is the Nova Scotia
law that sets the rules for who can be a juror.
Q -How
are jurors chosen?
A - Nova Scotia is divided into 14 jury districts.
Each district has a jury committee responsible for drawing up a jury list. The
jury committee is made up of a jury officer who chairs the committee, a representative
of each municipal unit in the district, and a representative appointed by the
Minister of Justice for Nova Scotia.
Once a year the jury committee makes up a jury list
by picking names at random from the most recent voters’ list or, if necessary,
from other available information such as the health registration list. Every
year in Nova Scotia, approximately 25,000 names are picked.
There are several criminal and civil jury terms
from September to June. There are no jury trials in July or August. Each jury
term in Halifax and Sydney is about one month long and they run almost continuously
from September through to June. In other areas of the province, the terms range
from two to three weeks, and in some areas twice a year or four times a year.
Usually, several trials are scheduled for each term. Most trials last from two
to six days but some last longer.
When a criminal or civil jury term has been scheduled,
the presiding judge will make up a jury panel by picking names at random from
the jury list.
If your name is selected for the jury panel, you
will get a notice in the mail at least 10 days ahead of time, telling you when
and where you have to go to court.
The notice will include a form that you must complete
and send back to the court in the envelope provided. The form will ask for telephone
numbers where you can be reached. It will also ask for your occupation (you
don’t have to give it).
Once you have your notice, you should arrange to
be available during the jury term. The length of service depends on the jury
term but can be up to a month. You must go to court on the day the first trial
is scheduled to begin. If you are not picked as a member of the jury for the
first trial, you will be excused and told to return to court on the first day
of the second trial, and so on. You are liable to serve on all the juries picked
for the term but in practice you are likely to have to serve on only one or
two.
Q - Why
should I serve on a jury?
A - Jury duty is an important responsibility in
our society and an important part of the Canadian justice system. It gives citizens
an opportunity to be directly involved in the administration of justice. In
a criminal trial, it gives an accused person the chance to be judged by a group
of his or her peers. In a civil trial it provides a person who has made a claim
against another a chance for his or her claim to be judged by other citizens.
Q - Can I serve
on a jury if I’m receiving Employment Insurance?
A - Serving on a jury will not affect your Employment
Insurance (EI) benefits. However, if you are on Employment Insurance and you
receive a jury notice you should contact the court administration office. The
number to call is on the jury notice.
Q - Can I be
excused from jury duty?
A - Yes. If you are not a Canadian citizen or are
under 18 you cannot serve as a juror. As well, there are a number of reasons,
such as illness or hardship that you may be excused from jury duty. For example:
- you may be excused if you provide the court with
an acceptable medical reason.
- you have already been called for jury duty within
the past three years.
- no more than one member of a family unit living
in the same house can be made to serve as a juror at the same session.
- only one employee in a firm that has fewer than
15 employees can be made to serve at the same session.
A judge may excuse you at any time before the trial
starts if:
- you have a personal interest in the matter being
tried;
- you know or are related to someone involved with
the case including the judge or lawyers;
- you can show personal hardship or have some other
reason, which persuades the judge to excuse you.
If you cannot appear for jury duty because of a
health problem, you should get a medical certificate from your doctor and return
it along with the form.
As well, you may be able to defer your jury duty
if you are able to serve but have a good reason why it would be inconvenient
to do so during the term for which you are called.
Certain people are automatically exempted from jury
duty because of their job. These jobs are listed on the back of your jury duty
notice. They include:
- the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia
- members of the Senate and House of Commons of
Canada
- members of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
(MLAs) when the House is in session;
- judges
- lawyers and anyone who has ever attended law
school
- members of a jury committee
- officers of the court such as court clerks
- officers of the Canadian Armed Forces and members
of the Armed Forces who are on active duty, or persons who are active
in the reserves
- police officers
- doctors
- dentists
- members of the clergy
You cannot be a juror if you have served two years
or more in jail for a criminal offence.
Q -
How do I apply to be excused from jury duty?
A - If you believe you have reason to be excused
from jury duty, contact the court administration office. The number is on the
jury notice. The jury coordinator can tell you what you should do. Depending
on your situation, you may be asked to send a letter of explanation, or come
to court and explain your situation to the judge.
After a trial has begun, the judge may excuse or
discharge a juror at any time. For example, in a criminal trial, if a juror
becomes ill during the trial, the judge may excuse the juror and allow the trial
to go ahead without him or her, as long as there are no fewer than 10 jurors
left.
Q - What
happens if I do not show up for jury duty?
A - If you do not show up for jury duty and you
have not been excused beforehand, you may be arrested. You will be brought before
the court to tell the judge why you did not show up. The judge may fine you
up to $1,000.
If an emergency prevents you from showing up, you
should contact the court as soon as possible. You will find the phone number
for the court administration office and the jury coordinator on your jury notice.
Q- Can
my employer fire me for taking time off for jury duty?
A - When you have been called to jury duty, your
employer must, by law, give you a leave of absence from work for as long as
you are needed. This may be a few hours, a day, several days or months during
the jury term. Your employer must keep your job open for you. When you return
to work, your employer is not allowed to demote you or to decrease your wages
because you were required for jury duty. However, your employer does not have
to pay you for the time you are away from work unless it is a term of your employment
contract, although many employers are willing to do so.
Q - What
kind of cases do juries hear?
A - Your jury notice may or may not tell you if
you are being called for a civil jury term or a criminal jury term, or both.
Most jury terms in Nova Scotia are for criminal cases. In criminal cases,
the accused, has a right to choose a trial by judge and jury, if the offence
carries a penalty of 5 or more years in prison or a more severe sentence. Some
examples are murder, attempted murder, serious assaults, and robbery.
In a civil trial, the jury has to settle a dispute
between two parties. Some examples of civil trials which might have a jury are
land disputes, personal injury claims, claims for defamation, and claims of
false arrest.
Q - Will
I be paid for jury duty?
A - If you are selected for jury duty you will receive
$40 a day, plus a travel allowance of 20 cents per kilometre for each trip to
the courtroom. Your parking will be paid only if you are selected as a juror.
You have to provide your own meals. If you have to stay overnight in a hotel
while the jury is in the process of reaching a verdict (decision), your meals
and hotel room will be paid.
If you are not selected as a juror but traveled
more than 100 kilometres from your home to the courthouse, you will be paid
20 cents per kilometre for your travel.
Q - How long
should I expect to be in court each day?
A - Usually, courts sit from 9:30 am to 4:30 or
5 pm in the afternoon, with a morning break (called a recess), a lunch
hour and an afternoon recess.
Jurors can go home every evening during the trial
itself (when the evidence is being heard). Jurors are not allowed to go home
during deliberations, that is, during the time they are deciding the verdict.
In most cases, juries complete their deliberations within a single day. Usually,
the only time you will have to stay away from home overnight is if you are deliberating
beyond 6 pm in the evening, or thereabouts, without reaching a verdict.
This does not happen very often, and when it does, it is usually for only one
night.
Q - What
should I wear to court?
A -There is no special dress requirement for jurors,
but you should wear something neat, clean, fairly conservative and comfortable.
It is a good idea to bring a book or something to
help you pass the time because there may be some delays during the first day,
before the trial begins. However, when you are in the courtroom, you must focus
your attention entirely on what is being said and done.
Q - Who
will be in court during the trial?
A - The following is a list of the people who will
likely be in court, and a brief explanation of their roles:
- the judge — has authority in the courtroom
and directs the proceedings. If the accused is found guilty, the judge decides
on the sentence.
- the sheriff or a deputy sheriff —
provides security in the courtroom
- the court clerk or court reporter — organizes
the selection of jurors from among the jury panel, keeps a record of exhibits
at the trial and looks after other administrative matters. He or she also
administers oaths, announces when court is in session and when it is recessed,
and makes sure the recording equipment is working properly
- counsel — lawyers are referred to as “counsel”
in the courtroom. In a criminal trial the counsel for the prosecution, representing
the State, is usually called the Crown Attorney. The counsel for the accused
is called the defence counsel. In a civil case the person bringing the action
is known as the plaintiff. The person the plaintiff is bringing action against
is known as the defendant. Their lawyers are referred to as counsel for the
plaintiff and counsel for the defendant.
- the accused: the person charged with a criminal
offence, that is the person on trial.
Witnesses will be called into the courtroom in turn
to give evidence at trial. The courts are also open to the public and media
who may watch the proceedings.
Q - How
are jurors picked?
A - Sometimes, the first day of the trial can be
a frustrating day for members of the jury panel. The accused may change his
or her plea to “guilty” just when the trial is about to begin. If
this happens, the jury panel may be sent home and told to return the following
week, or they may be told to wait for another trial scheduled for later in the
day.
If the trial goes ahead, the first task of the day
will be for the Crown and defence counsel to select 12 jury members from the
jury panel.
The jury panel will meet in the courtroom, the court
reporter will call out everyone’s name, and make a note of any member
of the panel who is not there to answer.
The judge will ask if any members of the jury panel
believe they should be exempted from sitting on this particular case. Now is
the time for you to speak up if you feel you have a reason to be excused, for
example, you have a friend or relative who is involved in the case. You should
also tell the judge if you have any sort of special interest in the case or
a strong emotional response to the crime. For example, a close friend of yours
may have been the victim of a similar crime, or the case may involve a crime
against a child and you have a child the same age. The judge will decide whether
to excuse you.
The names of potential jurors will then be picked
at random from a box of cards containing the names of every member of the jury
panel. If your name is picked, you will be asked to stand in the jury box so
that you and the accused can see each other. The Crown Attorney and the defence
counsel may ask you questions to help them decide whether to “challenge”
you.
"Challenges" and stand by”
The Crown Attorney and the defence lawyer can each
“challenge” you or any other prospective juror, this means that
they request that you not sit on the jury. There are two basic types of challenges
— “peremptory challenges” and “challenges for cause.”
A peremptory challenge allows the Crown Attorney or the defence lawyer to challenge
a juror without any reason or explanation.
They are each allowed:
- 20 peremptory challenges where the accused is charged with first degree murder
or high treason,
- 12 peremptory challenges where the accused could be sentenced to prison for
more than five years if convicted
- 4 peremptory challenges where the accused is charged with any other offence.
A challenge for cause is when the Crown Attorney
or the defence counsel believes after questioning you, that there are reasons
that disqualify you from serving at that particular trial. There is no limit
to the number of challenges for cause.
If you are challenged or excused, keep in mind that
this is not a judgment on your ability or on your standing in the community.
There may be 150 people or more on a jury panel. The lawyers, working from two
opposing points of view, must narrow it down to the 12 they believe would be
the best jurors for the particular case.
Stand by — the judge may order a member of
the jury panel to “stand by” if that person has asked to be excused
for reasons of personal hardship or for some other reason.
If a full jury has not been selected after all the
names on the jury panel have been called, persons on “stand by”
may be recalled.
They will be sworn in as jurors unless the judge
excuses them or they are challenged by counsel.
Q
- What happens if not enough jurors are selected
from the panel?
A - It is possible that the lawyers may go through
the entire jury panel and not find 12 people whom they both feel would make
suitable jurors for the case. At this point, the judge may order the sheriff,
or any other officer, to immediately summon as many people as necessary to complete
the jury.
This does not happen very often, but when it does
it can be dramatic. The sheriff may go out on the street, usually right in front
of the courthouse, and order people who are walking by to report to the court
for jury duty. If this should ever happen to you, you are legally required to
do as the sheriff says.
Q - What
happens once the jury is selected?
A - If you are selected as a jury member you will
promise or swear on a Bible — or in whatever way is appropriate to your
religion — that you will faithfully execute the duties involved. If you
do not have a strong religious belief, you can simply affirm that you will faithfully
execute a juror’s duties. All forms of oath and affirmation are equally
valid.
Q - What
is the jury’s responsibility?
A - At the beginning of the trial, the judge will
explain the jury’s duties and how the trial will be conducted. The jury’s
primary duty is to listen to all the evidence presented in court and to decide
the facts of the case. This may not be easy because trials usually take place
long after the event, and witnesses often have differing and conflicting memories
of what happened.
Trials are not contests between lawyers; there is
neither a winning nor a losing lawyer in a court of law. Each lawyer will try
to present the facts of his or her client’s case in the most favourable
light. As a juror, your role is to decide what the facts are and whether the
Crown or, in a civil trial, the plaintiff has proved its case. Do not be influenced
by whether you like or dislike the lawyer, the accused or the plaintiff.
The jury’s other duty is to apply the law
to the facts of the case. The judge will explain the law to you. You will be
told to approach the case with an open mind and without any idea as to whether
the accused is guilty.
As the trial proceeds, it is important that jurors
keep an open mind and listen to all the evidence, the arguments of both the
Crown Attorney and the Defence counsel and the judge’s instructions.
Jurors must not leave the courtroom while the trial
is in progress. If you need to leave the courtroom for any reason other than
during the usual breaks, you should pass a note to the deputy sheriff who will
be nearby and who will, in turn, pass it to the judge. The judge will likely
call an adjournment and the whole jury will retire to the jury room.
Q
- What happens at a criminal trial?
A -The Crown Attorney will begin by saying what
the accused is charged with, what the Crown intends to prove, and how the Crown
will present the proof. These opening statements are not part of the evidence.
The entire court proceeding and all the evidence is tape recorded so that it
can be played back if necessary.
The Crown Attorney will then present the case for
the Crown in the form of evidence. This may include documentary evidence (such
as photos, autopsy reports or sworn statements) and the evidence of witnesses.
The Crown Attorney will question the witness. This is called “direct examination”
or “examination in chief”.
The counsel for the defence will be allowed to “cross-examine”
the witness. The defence counsel does not have to cross-examine every witness.
After the Crown Attorney has presented his or her case, the lawyer for the defence
can also present evidence and call witnesses. The defence counsel will conduct
the direct examination and the Crown Attorney may cross-examine the witnesses.
The defence does not have to present evidence. The
accused does not have to give evidence.
Admissible evidence
The laws of evidence are designed to make sure that
the jury’s decision is based only on evidence that is legally admissible.
Therefore, when one counsel is questioning a witness, the other counsel may
object to the questions being asked or the answers being given. The judge will
either overrule the objection (that is reject the objection) or sustain it (that
is agree with the objection). If the objection is sustained, the judge will
tell the jury to ignore the answer given by the witness or may instruct the
witness not to answer the question.
Some objections cannot be dealt with right away.
Counsel may have arguments as to why the evidence should, or should not, be
admissible. In such situations the judge may call for a “voir dire”
(pronounced vwa dear) to listen to counsels’ arguments. The jury will
have to leave the courtroom during the voir dire. The judge will decide if the
evidence is admissible and will then recall the jury.
After all the evidence, the Crown Attorney and the
defence lawyer will each sum up his or her case for the jury. These closing
statements (sometimes called summations) can help jurors understand the evidence
and the issues. However, they are not part of the evidence and should not be
considered by the jury during its deliberations.
Q - What
is the judge’s charge to the jury?
A - After counsels’ closing statements, the
judge will instruct the jury. This is called the charge to the jury. The judge
will usually summarize the evidence and outline the law, which applies to the
case. Often, the judge will point out the facts of which the jury must feel
convinced before they can return with a verdict of guilty.
The standard of proof in a criminal trial is “proof
beyond a reasonable doubt”. This means that based on the evidence presented
the jury must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed
the offence he or she is charged with. The judge will explain this to you in
detail.
Q - How
does a jury reach a verdict?
A - After the judge’s charge to the jury, the
jury will go to the jury room to decide upon a verdict. The jury is expected
to:
- discuss all the evidence and assess its value
and importance
- decide the facts of the case
- apply the law as instructed by the judge, and
- reach a verdict.
The jury will choose one juror to act as a spokesperson
and to lead the proceedings in the jury room. This person is called the jury
foreperson.
In most cases you will be going from memory, although
some judges encourage jurors to take notes and even supply notepaper and pens.
A sheriff’s deputy will be available to the jury in case they want to
refresh their memory about a piece of evidence. The sheriff’s deputy will
take the jury’s request to the judge. The judge will have the tape of
the particular segment of the trial replayed to you in open court. The jury
can also ask the sheriff’s deputy to relay any questions to the judge.
From the time the jury leaves the courtroom to the time it reaches its verdict,
jury members must not speak with anyone other than each other and the sheriff’s
deputy. Failure to observe these rules could result in a mistrial.
Q - Do all
the jury members have to agree on the verdict?
A - In a criminal trial the jury verdict must be
unanimous, that is all 12 jurors must agree. Jury members must decide for themselves,
without direction from the judge, the lawyers, or anyone else, how they will
proceed in the jury room to reach a verdict.
If the jury members cannot reach an agreement on
the verdict within a reasonable period of time, the judge will declare a mistrial
and discharge the jury. It is up to the Crown to decide whether to apply for
a new trial. A jury, which cannot reach agreement, is called a “hung”
jury.
If the jury reaches a unanimous decision, everyone
will go back into the courtroom and the jury foreperson will announce the verdict.
The court clerk may ask each member of the jury to confirm that he or she agrees.
The judge will thank the jury and discharge them. If the verdict was guilty,
the judge will sentence the accused either then or at a later date.
In Canada, the deliberations of the jury are conducted
in secrecy and you must not talk about what went on in the jury room. If you
do, you could be charged with a criminal offence.
Q - How
is a jury selected in a civil trial?
A - The civil jury is selected in much the same way
as a jury for a criminal trial, except that the process is less formal and is
completed more quickly.
A civil jury has seven members. Their names are chosen
at random from among the jury panel. Counsels for the plaintiff and defendant
may each peremptorily challenge four jurors. If there are several plaintiffs
and defendants with different interests, the judge may allow each group, which
has a common interest to peremptorily challenge four jurors.
Q - What
happens in a civil trial?
A - The process is similar to that of a criminal
trial, but there are some differences:
- In a civil trial you must resolve a private dispute
between two parties.
- In a civil trial there are seven jurors not 12.
- The plaintiff must prove that the defendant is
liable on a balance of probabilities otherwise the plaintiff’s case
must be dismissed. This is a lower standard of proof than in a criminal trial.
- A civil jury may be asked to return a verdict
in different ways. The jury may be asked to:
- answer a question or simply to find in favour of
one of the parties, or
- assess damages or decide the amount of compensation
which is due to one of the parties.
- In a civil case, if the jury reaches a decision
within the first four hours of deliberation it must be unanimous. If deliberations
go beyond four hours, only a majority (five out of seven) verdict is necessary.
These FAQs were developed with the support of a financial contribution
from the Department of Justice Canada.
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