Juries (Hansard, 8 March 1996)

§ Mr. Gordon Prentice
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will amend section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to allow research to be undertaken into the functioning of juries. [18777]

§ Mr. Jonathan Evans
The royal commission on criminal justice recommended the amendment of section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 to enable research to be conducted into jurors' reasons for their verdicts. The Government are sympathetic to this recommendation and recognise the significant potential value of some forms of jury research. Consultation is currently taking place and the senior judiciary have been asked for their views.

§ Mr. Prentice
To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the statistical probability of an eligible individual being called for jury service. [18773]

§ Mr. Evans
The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.
Letter from Michael Huebner to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 8 March 1996:
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, has asked me to reply to your question about jury service.
I regret that the information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.