Juries Act 1974

Sections 1 and 9.

SCHEDULE 1 Ineligibility and Disqualificaton for and Excusal from Jury Service

PART I Persons Ineligible

GROUP A The Judiciary

• Holders of high judicial office within the meaning of the [1876 c. 59.] Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876.

• Circuit judges and Recorders.

• Masters of the Supreme Court.

• Registrars and assistant registrars of any court.

• Metropolitan and other stipendiary magistrates.

• Justices of the peace.

• The Chairman or President, the Vice-Chairman or Vice-President, and the registrar and assistant registrar of any Tribunal.

• A person who has at any time been a person falling within any description specified above in this Group.

GROUP B Others concerned with administration of justice

• Barristers and solicitors, whether or not in actual practice as such.

• Solicitors' articled clerks.

• Barristers' clerks and their assistants.

• Legal executives in the employment of solicitors.

• The Director of Public Prosecutions and members of his staff.

• Officers employed under the Lord Chancellor and concerned wholly or mainly with the day-to-day administration of the legal system or any part of it.

• Officers and staff of any court, if their work is wholly or mainly concerned with the day-to-day administration of the court.

• Coroners, deputy coroners and assistant coroners.

• Justices' clerks and their assistants.

• Clerks and other officers appointed under section 15 of the Administration of [1964 c. 42.] Justice Act 1964 (Inner London magistrates courts administration).

• Active Elder Brethren of the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond.

• A shorthandwriter in any court.

• Governors, chaplains, medical officers and other officers of penal establishments ; members of boards of visitors for penal establishments.

• (" Penal establishment" for this purpose means any prison, remand centre, detention centre or borstal institution).

• The warden or a member of the staff of a probation home, probation hostel or bail hostel (within the meaning of the [1973 c. 62.] Powers of Criminal Courts Act 1973).

• Probation officers and persons appointed to assist them.

• Members of the Parole Board; members of local review committees established under the [1967 c. 80.] Criminal Justice Act 1967.

• A member of any police force (including a person on central service under section 43 of the Police Act 1964); special constables ; a member of any constabulary maintained under statute ; a person employed in any capacity by virtue of which he has the powers and privileges of a constable.

• A member of a police authority within the meaning of the [1964 c. 48.] Police Act 1964; a member of any body (corporate or other) with responsibility for appointing members of a constabulary maintained under statute.

• Inspectors of Constabulary appointed by Her Majesty; assistant inspectors of constabulary appointed by the Secretary of State.

• Civilians employed for police purposes by a police authority; members of the metropolitan civil staffs within the meaning of section 15 of the [1967 c. 28.] Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1967 (persons employed under the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Inner London justices' clerks, etc.).

• A person in charge of, or employed in, any forensic science laboratory.

• A person who at any time within the last ten years has been a person falling within any description specified above in this Group.

GROUP C The clergy, etc.

• A man in holy orders.

• A regular minister of any religious denomination.

• A vowed member of any religious order living in a monastery, convent or other religious community.

GROUP D The mentally ill

• (Expressions used in this Group are to be construed in accordance with the [1959 c. 72.] Mental Health Act 1959.)

• A person who suffers or has suffered from mental illness, sub-normality, severe subnormality or psychopathic disorder and on account of that condition either—

  (a)

  is resident in a hospital or other similar institution ; or

  (b)

  regularly attends for treatment by a medical practitioner.

• A person who, under Part VIII of the [1959 c. 72.] Mental Health Act 1959, has been determined by a judge to be incapable, by reason of mental disorder, of managing and administering his property and affairs.

• A person for the time being in guardianship under section 33 of the Mental Health Act 1959.

PART II Persons Disqualified

• A person who has at any time been sentenced in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man—

  (a)

  to imprisonment for life or for a term of five years or more ; or

  (b)

  to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure, during the pleasure of the Secretary of State or during the pleasure of the Governor of Northern Ireland.

• A person who at any time in the last ten years has, in the United Kingdom or the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man—

  (i)

  served any part of a sentence of imprisonment or detention, being a sentence for a term of three months or more ; or

  (ii)

  been detained in a borstal institution.

PART III Persons Excusable as of Right

Parliament

• Peers and peeresses entitled to receive writs of summons to attend the House of Lords.

• Members of the House of Commons.

• Officers of the House of Lords.

• Officers of the House of Commons.

The Forces

• Full-time serving members of—

  • any of Her Majesty's naval, military or air forces,

  • the Women's Royal Naval Service,

  • Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, or any Voluntary Aid Detachment serving with the Royal Navy.

• (A person excusable under this head shall be under no obligation to attend in pursuance of a summons for jury service if his commanding officer certifies to the officer issuing the summons that it would be prejudicial to the efficiency of the service if the person were required to be absent from duty.)

Medical and other similar professions

The following, if actually practising their profession and registered (including provisionally or temporarily registered), enrolled or certified under the enactments relating to that profession—

• medical practitioners,

• dentists,

• nurses,

• midwives,

• veterinary surgeons and veterinary practitioners,

• pharmaceutical chemists.