§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will assess the restrictions on persons excusable from jury service as of right(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) in other EU countries. [18767]
§ Mr. MacleanThe entitlement to be excused from jury service as of right is restricted to Members of Parliament, the forces, and medical and other similar professions. It has long been accepted that these groups should have a right to be excused on the ground of their special and personal duties to the state, or because of their special and personal responsibilities for the immediate relief of pain or suffering. The royal commission on criminal justice considered the arrangements for selection of jurors but made no recommendation to change the restrictions. We have no present plans to assess the practice in other European Union countries.