Describe both the qualifications required for juries and the procedure for selecting a jury.

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Describe both the qualifications required for juries and the procedure for selecting a jury?

The basic qualifications required for jury service are laid down in the Jury's Act 1974. People are chosen from an electoral register at random by a computer. To qualify for jury service a person must be aged between 18 and 70. They must also have been a resident in the UK for at least 5 years since their 13th birthday. The person must be a British citizen.

Everyone must take part of a jury service unless disqualified or excused. People with certain criminal convictions cannot sit such as; those who have been sentenced to life imprisonment or a custodial sentence of 5 years or more, those who have served a custodial sentence for public protection or have been given an extended sentence, those who are currently on bail.

Those who cannot sit are also the mentally disordered persons. A judge can discharge any person from being a juror if they do not have the capacity to cope with the trial such as not being able to understand English or being blind or deaf.

The Juries Act 1974 was amended by the