Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support he has made available to enable people with learning disabilities to serve on juries in the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara

Jury service is one of the most important civic duties that anyone can be asked to perform. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is committed to ensuring that the public are provided with the necessary support to fulfil this duty where possible.

Jurors are asked in advance to let HMCTS know if they have any special requirements as a result of disability or other special needs. Where courts are informed about a potential juror’s particular needs, HMCTS will make adjustments that can reasonably be made to enable them to carry out their jury service.

HMCTS does not retain records of such requests and is unable to provide data of such instances in the last five years.