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…I can’t get into the Jury Box

Jury Service in Ireland

The rules about eligibility for jury service in Ireland are set down in Section 6 of the Juries Act, 1976.
Disqualification
The following persons are disqualified from jury service:

• Those who have been convicted of a serious offence in Ireland.
• Those who have ever been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five years or more.
• Those who, within the last ten years, have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three months.
• People living in Ireland who are not Irish citizens.

Please now add to that …wheelchair users. Can’t get people into Jury Boxes it seems. Bet the courtrooms are listed heritage woodworm infested zones and can’t be touched – that must be the reason! Because surely the court service has been confronted by the issue of a wheelchair user turing up to do their civic duty before? We already knew about Deaf people being excluded. Even if a wheelchair user could get into a jury box they would be prevented from performing Jury Service if they needed a personal assistant. Not that most court staff want disabled people to serve as it creates more work or that barristers think we are competent anyway!

And given the recession there will be a lot more of us about trying to do our duty and not filling the 3 percent quota in the public service. More on the recession and disabled people in the weeks and months to come.

* The blog post title is from the first few words of the Oath Jury Members must take

“I will well and truly try the issue whether the accused is (or are) guilty or not guilty of the offence (or the several offences) charged in the indictment preferred against him (or her or them) and a true verdict give according to the evidence.”