10. SIMON BRIDGES (National—Tauranga) Link to this
to the Minister of Justice
What changes, if any, is the Government making to the law relating to jurors?
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) Link to this
I am pleased to report to the House that the Government is making changes to improve jurors’ privacy and safety by removing the addresses of potential jurors from jury lists. These changes follow a recent trial during which convicted murderer George Baker, who was representing himself, memorised address details from a jury list and then corresponded with a juror.
Under the current law a jury list must contain the name, occupation, date of birth, and full address of potential jurors. Amongst other things, the proposed changes will remove the addresses of potential jurors from jury lists, but it will allow the prosecution, defence lawyer, or a court-appointed adviser to defendants who are representing themselves to have automatic access to all address information on request, and will prevent the accused from ever seeing potential jurors’ addresses by prohibiting the defence lawyer or court-appointed adviser from showing the address to the accused. These changes strike a balance between a juror’s right to privacy and safety, and a defendant’s right to a fair trial.