Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA ACT 1976 - SECT 23DU

Request for a jury panel

  (1)   The Sheriff may, in writing, for the purposes of indictable primary proceedings under this Division, request a State/Territory jury official to:

  (a)   prepare and provide a jury panel to the Sheriff; and

  (b)   issue summonses to a sufficient number of persons mentioned in subsection   (2) to allow the empanelment of a jury for the purposes of the proceedings.

  (2)   The persons are persons who may be summoned under a law of the State or Territory concerned relating to juries for the purposes of the trial on indictment of an offence in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory concerned.

Complying with request

  (3)   If a request is made under subsection   (1), the official:

  (a)   must comply with the request; and

  (b)   is authorised to issue the summonses under this subsection.

Note:   It is an offence if a person served with a summons fails to attend for jury service in accordance with the summons, and the person has not been excused (see section   58AA).

  (4)   In complying with the request, the official must apply the same processes the official would apply in preparing a jury panel (however described), and issuing summonses, for the purposes of the trial on indictment of an offence in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory concerned.

  (5)   The official may comply with the request under subsection   (3) concurrently with any of the official's powers, functions or duties under a law of the State or Territory relating to the preparation of a jury panel (however described), or relating to the issuing of summonses, for the purposes of the trial on indictment of an offence in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory concerned.

  (6)   For the purposes of this section and subsections   23DZL(3) to (5), the laws in force in a State or Territory relating to:

  (a)   the preparation of jury lists and jury panels (however described); and

  (b)   the processes associated with issuing summonses;

that apply for the purposes of the trial on indictment of an offence in the Supreme Court of the State or Territory concerned extend and are to be applied for the purposes of the indictable primary proceedings.

Note 1:   Subsections   23DZL(3) to (5) deal with supplementing a jury panel if the jury panel was provided to the Sheriff under this section.

Note 2:   A person who is not excused from inclusion on a jury panel (however described) under a law of a State or Territory may later be excused from serving as a juror for the purposes of the indictable primary proceedings (see sections   23DZD, 23DZE and 23DZK).

  (7)   For the purposes of subsection   (6), the laws mentioned in that subsection apply with such changes as are necessary, and without limiting this, references to a court are taken to be references to the Court.

  (8)   If a law of a State or Territory requires the Supreme Court of the State or Territory to issue a jury precept or direction (however described) before a State/Territory jury official is authorised to prepare a jury list or jury panel (however described), the request under subsection   (1) is taken to satisfy that requirement.

When a jury panel is provided

  (9)   A State/Territory jury official provides a jury panel to the Sheriff under this section by providing a list of the potential jurors on the jury panel to the Sheriff.

  (10)   The list must include:

  (a)   the name of each potential juror; and

  (b)   any other information necessary to identify each potential juror; and

  (c)   a number assigned to each potential juror, located next to the potential juror's name on the list.