News
Judges Object to Raising the Age Limit For Jurors
12 August 2010
The Times reports that The Council of Circuit Judges, which represents more than 600 judges in England and Wales, has come out strongly against the proposal that the age limit for jury service should increase should from its present level of 70 years of age. This was the subject of a consultation carried out by the Ministry of Justice from March 2010.
The Council points out that judges, magistrates and tribunal members all retire at 70. They say that the public might be concerned if judges who were considered to have reached compulsory retirement age remained to perform a similar service as jurors.
Magistrates, they add, are the "jurors" in their courts. "Are they to be compulsorily retired from that function but then required to perform a very similar function on jury service?
"How can compulsory retirement at 70 be justified in the light of any requirement to sit in a judicial capacity as a juror beyond that age? These difficult questions do not appear to have been addressed and would have to be answered."
According to The Times, the Council of Circuit Judges argues that there are already about 30 million people eligible to sit as jurors. With 446,703 juror summonses issued each year, and 319,073 people actually required to sit, the council says that the size of the jury pool "is more than adequate".
The Council also rules out the likelihood of potential cost savings through using older jurors who do not need financial recompense for missing work days. That takes no account of the fact that "older people are more susceptible to illness and disability than those who are younger", the judges say. "It is clear that the risks of non-availability or unintended disruption to proceedings would increase."
Further coverage of this story can be found on the BBC website here and in The Daily Telegraph here.