Jury Laws Amendment Act of 1876 No 24a (NSW)

No. VI

An Act to amend the Laws relative to the formation and return of Juries and to the compensation to be paid thereto. [28th

July, 1876.]

compensat ion to be paid to Ju ro r s for the t r ia l of civil and cr iminal W H E R E A S it is expedient and desirable to amend t h e Laws relat ive to the formation and r e t u r n of Ju r i e s and for the

issues Be it enacted b y the Queen ' s Most Exce l len t Majesty by and wi th t h e advice and consent of t h e Legislat ive Council and the Legislat ive Assembly of New South Wales in Par l i ament assembled and by the au thor i ty of the same as follows :—

1. W h e n e v e r i t shall be made to appear to t h e Governor in

Council t h a t t h e list of jurors qualified to serve on any j u r y for any

town or place a t which any Cour t for t he t r ia l of civil and c r imina l issues or any Cour t of General or Quar te r Sessions of t h e Peace has been or shall hereafter be appointed to be holden does no t contain tAvo h u n d r e d names i t shall be competent for the Governor in Council if he shall th ink fit to ex tend the " j u r o r s d i s t r i c t " for such toAvn or place to a circuit of not more t han fifty miles inc luding and a round such town or place Provided always t h a t AA'hcnever from t h e relat ive distances of t h e toAArns or places for holding any two of such Courts t he circuits a round each would in t he direction betAvcen t h e m be par t ia l ly identical t hen t h a t por t ion shall be bounded by a s t ra igh t

( 1 . ) Cards shall be procured to be pr in ted or s tamped only Avi th the same number s as shall appear opposite to t h e names on the appropr ia te jurors list for any toAvn or place a t Avhich any Cour t as aforesaid is required to be held. (2.)

l ine rec tangula r ly to a s t ra ight l ine connect ing such toAA'ns or places

and so prolonged as t o mee t t he points of intersect ion.

2. W h e n e v e r any precept to summon any j u r y shall have been

issued the Sheriff' shall summon the persons Avhose names shall appear on t he jurors list for t he distr ict wi th in which the a t tendance of t h e jurors is by t h e said precept required in t he m a n n e r following :—

(2.) As m a n y cards as the re are names on any j u r y list from which i t is required to summon any such j u r y as aforesaid shall be placed in a ro ta t ing bal lot-box to be approved of by t he Minis te r of Ju s t i ce and such box hav ing been first made to ro ta te for one m i n u t e a t least by t he Sheriff or h is D e p u t y t h e cards shall t h e n be drawn forth one a t a t ime u n t i l t he n u m b e r of ju rors required to be summoned shall be chosen and the persons whose names on t h e ju rors list correspond wi th t h e n u m b e r s on the cards d rawn in the m a n n e r aforesaid shall be t h e persons summoned to a t tend.

(3.) N o j u r o r chosen in t he above m a n n e r and afterwards duly

summoned shall be again liable to be summoned un t i l every person on t h e ju ro r s fist for t h e same t o w n or place shall have been summoned Provided always t h a t where a n u m b e r is d rawn indicat ing t h e n a m e of a ju ro r w h o m such Sheriff or D e p u t y knows to be dead or to have qui t ted t he district ano the r n u m b e r shall be drawn in t he place of such j u r o r a special r e t u r n be ing made to t h e Court wi th t h e names of t h e ju ro r s summoned of t h e names of every j u ro r so omit ted wi th t h e cause thereof.

3 .    Eve ry m a n who shall in t h e j u r o r s list be described as a Ju s t i ce

of t h e Peace lessee of t h e Crown Banke r B a n k director m e r c h a n t accountan t engineer manage r of a s ta t ion broker chemist or druggis t warehouseman commission agen t or archi tect or as t he owner or t enan t of any lands or t enemen t s of t h e yearly va lue of one hund red pounds a n d upwards shall be qualified and l iable to serve as a " Special J u r o r . "
4. The Governor in Council shall have power to fix from t ime to t ime the a m o u n t s of compensat ion to be paid to jurors for a t tendance in t he Supreme and Circui t Courts and Courts of Genera l and Quar te r Sessions.

5. No person otherwise ent i t led to exempt ion from service as a j u ro r shal l be exempted unless he shal l have claimed such exemp­ t ion by not ice to the Sheriff t h i r ty days a t t he least before he shall be summoned .

6. After t h e passing of this A c t t he second section of t h e A c t

passed in t h e e igh teen th year of H e r Majesty and numbered	e ighteen
shall be repealed.

7. Every J u d g e m a y in his discretion order any refreshment n o t

being fermented or spir i tuous l iquor to be supplied to any j u r y at any t ime after such j u r y shall have been impannel led and sworn and notwi th­ s tand ing t h a t such j u r y m a y have ret i red to consider of the i r verdict .

8. The J u r o r s ' Distr ic t for Sydney shal l after t he present year

be t h e Sydney Pol ice Dis t r ic t and also all places wi thin a distance of twelve miles from t h e City Town H a l l A n d all such places shal l

thereafter be excluded from the J u r o r s ' Dis t r ic t for P a r r a m a t t a .

9. After t he first day of September n e x t every j u r o r may be

summoned in t h e ordinary m a n n e r or by a summons hav ing thereon t h e

Sheriff's seal of office sent by post Provided t h a t a duplicate of every

s u m m o n s so sent shall be s tamped by t h e Pos tmas ter or some person duly ac t ing for h i m a t the t ime of delivery a t t he office for t ransmiss ion which dupl icate shal l be prima facie evidence t h a t the ju ro r named was served in t h e ordinary course of post A n d provided also t h a t two addi­ t ional days shall be allowed in every case of summoning by post be tween t h e day of such summoning and the day of a t tendance required.

10. Every person hav ing obtained le t ters of denization or been natura l i sed or who be ing an alien by b i r t h shall have resided in th i s Colony seven years or upwards shall if otherwise qualified as a j u ro r be qualified and liable to serve on all ju r i es in l ike m a n n e r as a n a t u r a l born subject of t h e Queen so qualified would be liable.

1 1 . The provisions of t he fifth section of t he Ac t passed in t he

e igh teen th year of H e r Majesty numbered eighteen shall apply to all Courts and Judges hav ing power to impose tines on jurors for non- a t tendance and where cause shall be shown by affidavit in pur suance of t h a t section t he same may be t r ansmi t t ed to t he J u d g e who imposed the fine who shall the reupon have power to remi t or mi t iga te t he same and in default of any order to t h a t effect the fine shall be enforced.
12. This A c t shall come in to force on the first day of September

one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six and may be cited as t he

" J u r y Laws A m e n d m e n t A c t of 1876 . "