Juries Act 1825^[1]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for consolidating and amending the Laws relative to Jurors and Juries.
Citation	6 Geo. 4. c. 50
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent	22 June 1825
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes	43 Hen. 3. 13 Edw. 1. c. 30 33 Hen. 6. c. 2 27 Eliz. 1. c. 6 3 Geo. 2. c. 25
Repealed by	Courts Act 1971 (except ss. 1, 27, 29, 50) Criminal Justice Act 1972 (ss. 1, 27, 50)
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Juries Act 1825, also known as the County Juries Act 1825, was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament. It extends only to England and Wales.

Selected clauses[edit]

Qualifying for jury service[edit]

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 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[edit]

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
• Officers of the Army and Royal Navy
• Maritime pilots
• Staff of the Royal Household
• Officers of HM Customs and Excise
• High sheriffs, high constables
• Parish clerks

Juries restricted to British subjects only[edit]

Service on a jury was restricted to natural born subjects of the Crown by section 3.

Special juries[edit]

Section 31 listed qualification for service on special juries. They were required to be one of:

• A person entitled to be addressed as esquire
• A person of 'higher degree' (i.e. upper class)
• A banker
• A merchant

Juries de medietate linguae[edit]

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[edit]

Only section 29 remains in force. It requires challenges by the Crown to the composition of juries to only be made for cause.

References[edit]