r' Jury duty is flot for everyone NATALIE FRASER ROBERT SNELL Certain occupations are exempted EDITOR'S NOTE: The followlng Is the second submlaalon ln a serles on legal issues and ýthe judiclal systemn, wrtten hy Natalle Fraser, a student- at.law ln Whtby, and editefi by lawyer Robert Snell. on most weekdays the parking lot of the Whit- by courthouse is half empty. But every once in a wbile it la full to capacity. Why? Usuaily the reason la that a jury is being selected for a jury trial. To be a juror in Ontario, a person must leaa Canadian citizen, a resident of Ontario, and at least 18 years old ia the year before serving as a jurer. A personi who is 69 years old in thxe year before serving may choose not to leaa juror. Blind people also have this choice. Anyone convicted of a serious criminal offen- ce, witlx no pardon having been granted, is disquallfied fromn jury duty. Doctors, dentists and veterinarians are exempted, as are mem- brofthe. armed forces, and firefigitera. The fiong people, as well as 'thelr spouses,' are disqualified: anyone engaged la the enforcement of law,: judges, lawyers and students-at-lpw. A person who has servedl as a juror lanfixe p(eévious three years ls aisoexempt. 1The sherif begins to assemble a jury by sen- ding a jury service notice to potentialjurors by mail. The people la whomn such a notice issent are chosen at randomn from fixe assessment'rolls of each munlcipallty. Morley Bain, sherriff of the Region of Durham, says tht about 4,000 peuple are chosen yearly ln fixe reglon. Anyone not completlag and returning fixe jury service notice questionnaire to fixe sheriff without reason la ilable to a fine ef up to $1,000 and/or lxnprisonment for up to six montbs. A person wixo bas been sent a notice will not- necessarly be a juror however. If he or she is disqualified for any of the reasons discussed above, the notlce.should la sent back with the disqualification noted. -lIn Durham, disqualifications bring tbe'numlar of potenial jurors down to 3,000. For each monthiy court sittings, 100 to 150 of the, quà Mlied jurors are summoned la fixe cour- thouse tebe assembled inla a 'jury panel'. On the ffrst morn*ngof the sittings, a potentia juror can apply to be excused, but this wili only la granted under extraordinary circunistances. Bain says tbat while people often feel that they are beag imposed;upon when cailed to do jury duty, once at court they enjoy themselves and realize that tlxey are playing an important role la fixe ad- ministration of justice. The name and address of each potential juror la placed onaa card wblclx is then placed la a box by thxe court clerk. Thxe box la takea lato the cour- troom wlere fixe jury panel la assembled. After ,the box bas beenthorougbly shaken, cards are drawn fr It by fixe court clerk. The clerk cails out the name on eaclx card draWn. Ualess a juror la challenged, the clerk continues la draw names fromn the box until thxe jury bas been fully chosen. In Ontario, a jury of 12 la requlred for a criminal trial, anda jury of sixfor a civil trial. .Tbe parties of fixe proceeding for wicb fixe jury la being fermed (L.e. fixe 'plalatiff' and 'defen V t'la a civil trial, and the 'Crown' and. 'aced'in a criminal trial) are present durlng fieseeton of the jury for their trial. Each par- ty la entitled la "challenge" any potenflal juror as is orher name la drawn fromn the box and called out. A partywill "'challenge for cause" if it believes tbat fixe juror may iot la impartial. For exam- pie, if fixe jurer caied la fixe plantiff's brother, tihe defendant will challenge the jurer for cause. Once it lasbown tixat fixe juror may be biased in favor of tihe plaintiff because ire la related to tire plaintiff, that jurer may la dismissed and a new one selected. Jurors may aiso la chaiienged "peremnptorily". This kind of challenge may la made by a party wlthout any reason laing given,. but parties are limited lanfixe number of perem- ptory challenges that they may make. In a civil' trial, eacb party bas four peremptory challenges. In a criminai trial, theaccused bas 20,12 or four challenges depending on fixe offence bie or sire la charged witb. Thre Crown has four peremptory challenges in ail cases. Thxe Crown also bas fixe rigbt to require jurors to "stand aside," witbout any reason laing given, up to a maximum of 48 jurors. The jury selection procesa continues after a juror bas been requested to stand aside, but if the entire jury panel bas been cailed and 12 jurors have not been chosen,- the "stand-asides"' will la called again. This gives the Crown an advantage over the accused because the chance of calling fixe en- tire jury panai witbout seiecting 12 jurors la very slim. By using stand-asides, the Crown bas much greater opportunity to control fihe jury selection process tian does fixe accused. If fixe entire jury panel and any stand-asides bave been cafled and tbere la stfi an insufficient n umber of jurors, tbe sberiff bas fixe right te summen the flrst person be finds to do jury dutyl1 Sucir a persen then becomes part of fixe jury panel and can la chalengad as a regular mem- lar of the panel. Bain says that bie bas never had do la this yet but bas corne close la it on occasion. once the jury bas been chosen and ail mem- bora sworn thre trialnxay begla. During the trial jurors ma), bW dis!bargad but oaly for good reason. Good reasorià .,could l fhix mess or death of a juror "But in a reet Anierican case, a self-proclaimed psyciric jurer was dlsmnissed because sbe insisted tbat she knew wbat fixe out- corne of the trial would be no matter wbat fixe evidence was 1 Tire trial may continue as long as ten jurors remain ln a criminal trial, and five la a civil triai. If fixe number 0f jurors fails lalow fixe miinimaum, a new jury must la formed and the trial commeacad agala. Jurera are generally allowed to go horne eacb evening wile serving. The judge will instruct tbern not to communicate witlx anyone about the trial, and to report any attempt by anyone to commnunicate witb the juror about fixe. trial. If such- communication occurs the judge may discharge fixe juror. In a crmai triai, ail 12 jurors must lae unaninous la their verdict. Ia a civil trial, only five of fixe six jurors must agree on the verdict. If the raquisite numlar ef jurors are unable to agree on a verdict, it is a,'bung Jury' and the resuit la a mistrial. A new jury must la selected and the case tried again from thre laginning.' .Thre role of thxe jury is to la thre "trier of fact". The judge iastructs the jury as to fixe law that must be applied to the facts declded by fixe jury. For example, là a civil triai, the jury will lae asked wbether the defendant was at fault, la causlag an accident. If fixe jury finda fixat the defenant was at fault, it will l asked la detar- mine the particulara of fixe fault, and the flaan- cial compensation owed la fixe plalntiff. The judge tiran renders judgmeat la accordance with the jury's declaion. There la considerable time, expense and effort lavolvedlinpreviding jury triais. TuiaIs can go on for montbs, and jurera receive meagre compen- sation. But the rgbt to trial by our peers la an essential part of our legal systemr. It la entren- clxed la the Charter of Rights and Freedoma. 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