The Juries Act 1825, also known as the County Juries Act, was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament. It extends only to England and Wales.
Selected clauses
Qualifying for jury service
The following requirements qualified an individual for jury service (section 1):
* Male
* Between 21 and 60 years old
* At least one of:
** Owning land worth at least £10 a year if rented
** Having a lease of at least 21 years length of land with an annual rental value of at least £20
** Being a householder paying the poor rate on a property that has at least fifteen windows and an annual rental value of at least £30 (Middlesex) or £20 (elsewhere in England)
The requirement in the
Bill of Rights 1689
The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...
that jurors in cases of high treason be freeholders was abolished.
In Wales the qualifications were scaled to three-fifths of the above values.
Exemptions from jury service
Various groups were exempted from jury service by section 2:
* Peers of the realm
* Judges
* Church of England clergy
* Roman Catholic priests
* Persons whose only occupation was as a protestant preacher (or preacher and schoolmaster)
* Practising lawyers
* Officers of the courts
* Coroners
* Jailers
* Physicians and surgeons
*
Apothecaries
''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...
* Officers of the Army and Royal Navy
*
Maritime pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled profession ...
s
* Staff of the Royal Household
* Officers of HM Customs and Excise
* High sheriffs, high constables
* Parish clerks
Juries restricted to British subjects only
Service on a jury was restricted to
natural born subjects of the Crown by section 3.
Special juries
Section 31 listed qualification for service on
special juries A special jury, which is a jury selected from a special roll of persons with a restrictive qualification, could be used for civil or criminal cases, although in criminal cases only for misdemeanours such as seditious libel. The party opting for a s ...
. They were required to be one of:
* A person entitled to be addressed as
esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
* A person of 'higher degree' (i.e. upper class)
* A banker
* A merchant
''Juries de medietate linguae''
Section 47 reiterated that foreigners were entitled to have one-half of a jury judging them to consist of fellow foreigners. Those foreign jurors had to be available in the area where the trial was held, but were otherwise exempted from the qualifications required of jurors at the time (such as owing land).
In force
Only section 29 remains in force. It requires challenges by
the Crown
The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...
to the composition of juries to only be made for cause.
References
{{jury
Juries