Who can be on a jury?

Each person residing in South Australia who is enrolled to vote at the election of members of the House of Assembly can be summoned for jury service [s 11 Juries Act 1927 (SA)]. The Juries Act has some exceptions to this (see below) and a person who is 70 years old or over can apply to be excused from attendance [see s17(1)-(2)].

For further information on jury service, see also the Courts SA website.

A person is ineligible for jury service if he or she is:

A person is disqualified from jury service if he or she:

Annual Jury List

Each year, a list of potential jurors is prepared for each of the three jury districts in the State - Adelaide, Northern (Pt Augusta), and South-Eastern (Mt Gambier). The State Electoral Roll subdivisions are divided up between the jury districts and jurors can generally only be selected for the jury district that covers their electoral subdivision.

At least 3000 names must be chosen annually for the Adelaide jury district, and 500 each for the Northern and South-Eastern districts. Names are obtained by random selection from the state electoral roll. The number of names chosen from each electoral subdivision must be proportionate to the number of names on the roll for each subdivision.

Once names are selected, the list is checked to determine whether any selected people live more than 150 km from the court where the trials will be. If so, they are sent a notice asking if they want to serve; their names are not included in the jury list unless they wish to serve.

Monthly jury pool

Each month, a number of potential jurors sufficient to cover all the trials for that month is randomly selected from the annual jury list.

Those on the monthly list are sent a summons to attend court for a general orientation session. They are then on call for the month and must telephone each day to see if they must attend for a particular trial.

How often can someone be required to serve on a jury?

Each year, every person on the State Electoral Roll aged 18-70 can be selected to be on the annual jury list, regardless of whether they have served before. If a person has served as a juror within the previous three years, they can apply to be excused from jury service if they receive a summons.

Once a person has been selected in a monthly jury pool, they can only be selected again in the same year after all other names have been selected, and 6 months after they have previously served.

Application to be excused from jury service can be made by a person summonsed to jury service, but not already serving on a jury, for the following reasons:

Selecting a jury for a trial

When the trial is called on, the accused is placed in the dock, the charge is read aloud and the defendant is again asked to plead guilty or not guilty. The persons from whom the jury will be selected are already seated in court and their names are in a ballot box in the court. If a plea of not guilty is entered, twelve names are selected at random from the ballot box [s 46 Juries Act 1927 (SA)].

The prosecution and the defence may challenge (refuse) up to three jurors each without giving a reason (peremptory challenge). Where two or more persons are jointly charged, each is entitled to challenge 3 jurors peremptorily.

The prosecution and the defence may also challenge the right of a juror to sit on the jury on the basis that he or she is ineligible to act, or disqualified from acting, as a juror.

If a prospective juror is refused, further names are called until twelve jurors are accepted.

The jury panel list is not a public document and is supplied to the parties in court for the purpose of jury selection only.

Further requirements about the selection of jurors by ballot, and how jury panels are formed are outlined in rules 132.1-132.6 of the Joint Criminal Rules 2022 (SA).

Powers of Sheriff or Sheriff’s officer

The Sheriff must ensure that jurors while in a jury pool room, jury retiring room, courtroom, building in which a courtroom is situated, at a view or moving between any of those places are in the charge of the Sheriff or a Sheriff’s officer [Joint Criminal Rules 2022 (SA) r 132.5].

If a juror does not attend court in response to a summons, or comply with a direction by the Sheriff, then the Sheriff must report the fact to a judge [r 132.6].

Being excused from the jury once a trial has begun

If a juror becomes ill during a trial or a matter of special urgency or importance arises for them, the Judge may order that the juror be excused from further attendance during that trial and for such further period (if any) as the Judge determines.

The minimum number of jurors for a trial is 10. If any of the twelve jurors is excused, does not turn up, or dies, then the trial can continue with 11 or 10 jurors [s 56(2)].

Payment while on a jury

Employers must permit their employees to take leave for jury service. Employers are not required to provide paid leave. However, it is possible to apply to be excused from jury service or to defer jury service for work related reasons.

If an employer provides paid leave to a juror, the employer is entitled to be reimbursed the actual amount paid up to a maximum of $178 per day (indexed - amount as at 1 July 2022).

Unless a juror is paid by an employer for the period during which they attend court, jurors are paid $20 for each day they attend, regardless of how long they are present.

Actual monetary loss or expenditure incurred as a direct result of jury service may be claimed (up to a maximum of $158 per day (indexed - amount as at 1 July 2022)). For example, lost wages, the cost of extra child care or the cost of employing someone to cover absence at work if self-employed can be claimed. This amount is on top of the $20 mentioned above.

A travelling allowance of 85 cents per kilometre (as at 1 July 2022) is paid to all jurors based on the distance from the juror's residence to the court and back for each day's attendance.

Higher daily rates apply to trial declared to be long trials.

Claims for these amounts have to be substantiated and made on the forms available on the Courts website.