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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 8 Mar 2000

Vol. 516 No. 1

Written Answers. - Courts Service.

Michael Joe Cosgrave

Question:

103 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals, if any, he has regarding compensation for people who attend for jury service and are out of pocket as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7185/00]

Michael Joe Cosgrave

Question:

104 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average length of trials for which jurors were present in each of the years from 1997 to 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7186/00]

Michael Joe Cosgrave

Question:

105 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people who served as jurors in each of the years from 1997 to 1999. [7187/00]

Michael Joe Cosgrave

Question:

106 Mr. Cosgrave asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people who were summoned for jury service in each of the years from 1997 to 1999. [7188/00]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 103 to 106, inclusive, together.

There is no provision in the Juries Act, 1976, for the payment of out of pocket expenses to jurors from State funds. When the Act was intro duced, consideration was given to this matter but it was decided that expenses should not be paid as the performance of jury service is considered to be a basic civic duty which arises relatively infrequently as far as the individual is concerned.
The Deputy will, however, be aware that section 29 of the 1976 Act makes provision for employees to be paid by their employers while on jury service. I have no current plans to change the system.
On the question of the duration of a trial this is dependent on a number of factors, such as the number of witnesses called, whether there are any legal arguments in the course of the trial, the complexity of the evidence presented as well as the length of the jury deliberations. Some trials may only last a day while other, more complex cases, could take two months or more to dispose of. As each trial is different it is, therefore, not possible to provide an estimate of the average length of a trial. However, in general, trials dealt with by the Circuit Criminal courts would be of a relatively short duration while trials dealt with by the Central Criminal Court would take longer to dispose of.
I am informed by the Courts Service that statistics are not compiled on the number of persons who served as jurors. However, based on the estimated number of jury trials dealt with by the provincial Circuit courts in the legal years ending 31 July 1997, 31 July 1998 and 31 July 1999, it is possible to provide an estimate of the number of people who served on juries in the provincial Circuit courts in these legal years. This information is provided on the following table. Similarly it is also possible to estimate the number of persons who served on juries in the Central Criminal Court and the High Court in the years ending 31 July 1997 to 31 July 1999 and this information is also provided in the table below. Estimated figures for the number of jury trials dealt with by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court are only available for year ending 31 July 1999.

Year Ending

Estimated Number of Jury Trials dealt with by provincial Circuit Courts

Estimated Number of Jurors

Estimated Number of Jury Trials dealt with by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

Estimated Number of Jurors

Estimated Number of Jury Trials dealt with by Dublin Central Criminal Court

Estimated Number of Jurors

Estimated Number of Sittings in the High Court

Estimated Number of Jurors

31/7/97

118

1,416

N/A

33

396

10

120

31/7/98

141

1,692

N/A

37

444

10

120

31/7/99

159

1,908

350

4,200

33

396

10

120

Total

5,016

4,200

1,236

360

I am again informed by the Courts Service that statistics are not available on the number of people who were summonsed for jury service in the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. However, as a rule provincial Circuit courts issue 250-300 jury summonses for each of the four court terms in the calendar year. The jury office in Dublin issues on average 1,900 jury summonses each fortnight when the courts are in session, approximately 18 times a year. Based on these figures, approximately 60,000 jury summonses would have been issued nationally in each of the years in question. Allowing for the fact that some of the people summonsed will be ineligible, or disqualified from jury service and that others will apply to be excused from same, it is estimated that only one third of the summonses issued will result in potential jurors. This number will be further reduced during the jury selection process before each trial.
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