Jury Service

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022

Thursday, 10 February 2022

Questions (380)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

380. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons called to serve for jury service in the past five years to date; the number of persons that were excused from jury service for the rest of their lives for the same time period; and the number of persons that were called to jury service but were subsequently excused from serving due to conflicts of interest, general unsuitability and who were known to defendants over the same time period. [7294/22]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has provided the following details in relation to the number of jury summonses issued in the past five years.

Table: The Number of Jury Summonses Issued 2017 – 2021

Year	Summonses Issued
2017	120,010
2018	128,965
2019	153,403
2020	189,047
2021	231,778

I am informed that the Courts Service are unable to provide information on the number of persons excused from jury service for the rest of their lives as this is not recorded on their system. Similarly the Courts Service are unable to provide information on the number of persons excused for the reasons of conflict of interest, general unsuitability or where the defendant was known to the potential jurors.