Voice

A Jury is a group of 7 persons who decide what are the true facts in a court case. A Jury is most commonly used in trials of person accused of serious criminal offences.

Every resident of Hong Kong who is between 21 and 65 years old is eligible to be a juror provided he meets certain basic requirements. He must be of sound mind and not affected with deafness, blindness or similar disability and he must have a good knowledge of English.

Some people are exempted from serving on a Jury. They are members of Exco, Legco or the Urban Council; Government Servants whose duties are connected with the Administration of justice or the Disciplined Services, soldiers, auxiliary policemen, foreign diplomats, lawyers and their clerks, medical practitioners.

First of all, every eligible juror will be served a notice by the Commissioner of Registration. Within 14 days after service of this notice the Juror must notify the Commissioner in writing if he claims an exemption.

Next, this list of Jurors is sent to the Supreme Court where the names of the Jurors are written on separate cards. Whenever it is necessary to call a jury, the Court summons the jurors either personally or by registered post.

If the juror wants to be exempted he must write to the court stating a good reason why he should be excused from serving on the jury. He can also ask the Judge for exemption on the day he goes to court.

It is an offence to ignore a summons and fail to report for Jury service, without a reasonable excuse. The maximum fine is $3,000-.

Many more Jurors are summoned to court than will actually be needed. The separate cards of all the Jurors who have been summoned are put into a box and names are drawn one by one until 7 jurors are approved. The accused person may challenge up to 5 jurors selected from the box without reasons and may challenge any number of selected jurors if he has good reason to believe they would not serve as fair and impartial jurors.

In all criminal cases a majority of not less than 5 jurors is required for a lawful verdict except in Murder cases where the Jury must be unanimous in their verdict of guilty or not guilty.

A person who serves as a juror is paid an allowance of at least $240 per day.

In is an offence for an employer at any time to dismiss or otherwise to discriminate against an employee because he is serving or has served on a Jury and the maximum punishment for that is $25,000- fine and imprisonment for 3 months.

Date of amendment: 1st December 1995