2 days ago
‘Outdated' jury selection system missing thousands in new-builds
Hundreds of thousands of people who live in new-build homes are being excluded from jury service because of outdated court IT systems that do not recognise their addresses.
Potential jurors are picked by random from a historic address database that covers the whole country. However, according to senior court officials, the database cannot search the postcodes of new housing estates, meaning that about 400,000 potential jurors cannot be summoned.
Opposition politicians said it was 'unacceptable' that thousands of people were being denied the chance to serve on juries, calling it an 'affront to democracy'.
Officials receive no response to almost half of the citations sent to members of the public, and inefficiencies in the jury system cause delays at a time when courts are struggling to deal with a large backlog of trials.
While work on a new 'effective and modern' system had been scheduled to start last year, it was delayed because of Scottish government funding cuts and preparatory work has only recently started.
David Fraser, executive director of court operations at the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), told Scotland on Sunday that he wanted to ensure that everyone who wanted to serve on a jury — the 'cornerstone of the criminal justice system' — could do so.
But while the random selection process means that many Scots had never been cited for jury duty, it was not always simply down to chance.
'It's basically new housing developments which can't be allocated to our system due to the constraints we have,' he said. 'There's definitely an element of exclusion, because if those people have an address which cannot be ingested into our system, they are excluded. That's what we're trying to avoid, and make sure everyone has an opportunity to serve.'
The SCTS was ready to push ahead with the plans for a new digital jury content management system in October 2023, seeking out potential suppliers for design and development. The procurement notice then stated that the existing in-house system was 'outdated'.
Last September, however, the SCTS advised suppliers that it had placed the £1 million project on 'long-term pause', telling them that funding cuts had affected its budgetary plans.
Liam McArthur, the Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman, said: 'I think to most reasonable onlookers it will seem totally bonkers that if you live in a new-build development you're effectively excluded from jury duty because the computer system can't handle your address.
'It seems the SCTS would like to move with the times but a lack of funding is holding them back.'
Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary, said: 'The haphazard process of juror selection is a big cause for concern. Jury trials are fundamental to our justice system and it's unacceptable that a huge bank of potential jurors are being overlooked.'
A Scottish government spokeswoman said that the citation and selection of jurors was an operational matter for the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service.
She added: 'Despite extremely challenging financial circumstances, the Scottish government has continued to increase the SCTS operational budget annually, with an additional £11.5 million in resource funding provided this year.'
