Establishes who is qualified and liable to serve on juries in Victoria (age and enrolment rules) and lists specific categories of people who are disqualified or ineligible (section 5; Schedules 1 and 2).
Requires jury selection to be random (section 4) and sets out how jury rolls and lists are prepared and updated (sections 18–19, 25).
Provides a process of pre‑selection by questionnaire and requires recipients to respond (sections 20–21).
Authorises summonses to attend for jury service (including by electronic means where a person consents) and sets minimum service notice periods (section 27(2)(b), 27(2A), 27(2)(c)).
Describes how pools and panels are formed and managed (sections 29–31), how juries are empanelled and sworn (sections 30–33, 42), and the procedures for challenges, peremptory challenges and Crown stand‑asides in criminal and civil trials (sections 33–40, 38–39, 37A, 39A).
Sets jury sizes and permits courts to empanel additional jurors in certain trials (sections 22–23, 48).
Regulates juror attendance limits, deferrals, excusals (temporary and permanent), appeals against Juries Commissioner decisions and the court’s power to excuse or order non‑performance (sections 7–16, 10–12).
Prescribes remuneration and allowances for jurors, an employer’s obligation to make up lost pay, and juror notification duties (sections 51–53).
Provides for compensation for personal injury arising out of jury service and aligns those claims with the State’s workplace injury scheme and the Authority’s role (Part 8, sections 54–59).
The Juries Act 2000 (Vic) comprehensively regulates the constitution, selection, empanelment and management of juries in the Supreme Court and County Court of Victoria. Its core purpose, stated in s 1, is to establish a system of trial by jury that equitably spreads the obligation of jury service, produces juries more representative of the community, and facilitates timely adoption of new technologies for juror selection.
At the structural level the Act divides into 13 Parts. Part 1 contains preliminary matters including an exhaustive definition section (s 3) that distinguishes civil trial, criminal trial (expressly including investigations and special hearings under the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997), jury roll, panel, pool and identifying number. Section 4 imposes a statutory obligation that all selections required by the Act must be random.
Part 2 determines liability for jury service. Every person aged 18 or over enrolled as an elector for the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council is qualified and liable (s 5(1)), subject to disqualification under Schedule 1 or ineligibility under Schedule 2. The Act then creates layered mechanisms for deferral (s 7), excusal for good reason by the Juries Commissioner (s 8) or the court (s 11), permanent excusal (s 9), and court orders that a person not perform jury service (s 12). Good reason is non-exhaustively defined to include illness, distance, hardship, carer responsibilities, advanced age and religious incompatibility (s 8(3)). A person may waive an exemption or excuse (s 15).
Parts 3 and 4 deal with jury districts, rolls and pre-selection. Jury districts are declared by Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Victorian Electoral Commission (s 18). The Commission prepares jury rolls by random selection from the electoral register (s 19). Questionnaires are issued to ascertain qualification and liability (s 20), and the Juries Commissioner makes a formal determination (s 21).
Current sections
Direct links to the current provisions in Juries Act 2000.
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Establishes the Juries Commissioner and deputy commissioners and gives them administrative powers including to administer oaths and direct deputies (Part 9, sections 60–64).
Creates a set of secrecy, confidentiality and conduct offences (publication of juror identity, confidentiality of jury deliberations, enquiries by jurors, false answers, non‑attendance and impersonation) and attaches significant penalties (Part 10, sections 65–83).
Stated purpose and how the Act implements it
The Act states its purposes as: (a) spreading obligation for jury service equitably across the community; (b) making juries more representative; and (c) permitting timely adoption of new technologies for selection (section 1). Mechanically it implements those aims by drawing jurors from the electoral roll (section 5), using random selection (section 4), providing questionnaire‑based pre‑selection (sections 20–21), allowing electronic summons/attendance (section 27(2A), section 29(2A)) and empowering the Juries Commissioner to manage lists, pools and excusals (sections 25, 29, 7–9).
Who pays, who decides, and what changes behaviour (with key sections)
Who pays:
Parties who require a civil trial by jury pay prescribed jury fees (section 24).
Employers must reimburse employees for the difference between jury pay and ordinary earnings (section 52).
Remuneration and allowances for jurors are fixed by Ministerial notice and paid from the Consolidated Fund; compensation for injury is paid from the WorkCover/Authority Fund (sections 51(4)–(6), 59(2)–(3)).
Courts and trial judges control empanelling, excusals on trial, discharge of jurors, and directions about selection procedures (sections 30, 31, 32, 11–12, 43).
Behaviour changes the law creates:
Individuals must respond to questionnaires and summonses and truthfully answer questions (sections 20–21, 68).
Employers cannot terminate or prejudice employees because of jury service (section 76).
Panel members and jurors are prohibited from making independent enquiries about trial matters and from publishing deliberations or identifying jurors (sections 78A, 78, 77).
The Act allows remote/electronic participation in parts of the process (summonses and attendance) where specified (sections 27(2)(b), 27(2A), 29(2A)).
Costs, incentives, trade‑offs and implementation issues (mechanisms, not judgments)
Compliance and administrative burden: the Act requires the Juries Commissioner to prepare and maintain rolls and to operate a questionnaire system; individuals must complete questionnaires (sections 19–21). Non‑compliance carries penalties (sections 67–71). The need to verify enquiries (police checks, section 26) creates ongoing operational tasks.
Discretion and concentration of administrative power: the Juries Commissioner has significant discretion to defer, excuse or permanently excuse persons (sections 7–9) and to amend lists (section 25). Courts also have broad remedial powers (sections 11–12). Those powers concentrate decision‑making in administrative and judicial actors and create dependence on their procedures (see sections 64 and 11–12 for directions and court role).
Use of technology and access trade‑offs: the Act permits summonsing and attendance by electronic means where consent or direction exists (sections 27(2A), 29(2A)). That can reduce travel costs and expand practical availability, but the mechanism depends on consent and administrative capacity to run electronic attendance (sections 27(2A), 29(2A)) and on judicial directions (section 30A(2)).
Costs and who bears them: civil litigants pay jury fees (section 24), employers bear top‑up wage costs (section 52), and the State funds juror remuneration and WorkCover payments (sections 51, 59). Those allocations shift direct costs among private litigants, employers and the public purse.
Enforcement and deterrence: the Act includes strong offences and penalties (publication and confidentiality offences, sections 65, 77–78) to protect juror anonymity and deliberation confidentiality; those penalties create deterrence but also require enforcement resources (section 65(2) and penalties throughout Part 10).
Effects on private choice and market actors: employer obligations (section 52) and protections against dismissal (section 76) constrain private employers’ responses to employee absence. Fees for civil juries (section 24) impose costs on parties choosing a jury trial and therefore affect litigation choices.
Concentrated benefits, diffuse costs and capture risk (mechanics)
Diffuse costs: the broad obligation on enrolled electors (section 5) spreads the compliance burden across the adult electorate.
Capture risk and administrative discretion: broad statutory discretion for the Juries Commissioner (sections 7–9, 25, 64) and detailed rules on lists, pools and excusals mean administrative practice and resource constraints will materially affect outcomes.
Practical implementation risks and substitution effects (mechanisms)
Electronic attendance/selection depends on consent and on the Juries Commissioner and courts implementing and supervising technology (sections 27(2A), 29(2A), 30A(2)).
Changes to peremptory challenge procedures, identifying jurors by number, and Crown stand‑aside rules change the sequence and visibility of selection (sections 30A, 37A, 38–39), which alters how parties manage jury selection in practice.
Key cross‑references and interactions
The Act cross‑references multiple other statutes for definitions, administration and compensation (Electoral Act 2002 for roll selection, Oaths and Affirmations Act for administering oaths, Workplace Injury/WorkCover Acts for compensation) (see sections 19(2), 62, Part 8).
Summoning is governed by Part 5. Jury lists are prepared from those recorded as liable (s 25), police enquiries are mandated to confirm disqualification (s 26), and summonses must be served at least 10 days before attendance (s 27). Attendance may occur by audio visual link where specified (s 27(2)(b)). A person cannot be compelled to attend more than five consecutive court days unless a trial is unfinished (s 28).
Part 6 is the operational heart of jury trials. Pools are formed under the control of the Juries Commissioner (s 29), panels are selected or allocated from pools (s 30), and panel members are ordinarily identified by number rather than name unless the court orders otherwise in the interests of justice (s 30A). The court informs the panel of the nature of the case, parties, witnesses and estimated length (s 32) and hears applications to be excused for partiality or other reason. Distinct selection protocols then apply: in civil trials the proper officer calls numbers or names until sufficient persons remain after challenges (s 33); in criminal trials the process continues until the required number remains after challenges for cause, Crown stand-asides and peremptory challenges (s 36). Peremptory challenges are limited — three per side in a single-accused criminal trial, two per side where multiple accused, and two per party in civil trials (ss 35, 39). The Crown’s right to stand aside is similarly calibrated (s 38). Additional jurors may be empanelled (up to three in criminal, two in civil) where trial length or complexity suggests mid-trial discharges are likely (s 23). Once empanelled, jurors swear or affirm in the form set out in Schedule 3 (s 42).
The trial judge possesses ongoing supervisory powers: discharge of an individual juror for partiality, incapacity or illness (s 43), continuation with a reduced jury (minimum five in civil, ten in criminal) (s 44), and orders for a view in civil cases (s 45). Verdicts may be by majority in defined circumstances after reasonable deliberation: 11/12, 10/11 or 9/10 in criminal trials (except murder, treason, certain drug offences and Commonwealth offences which remain unanimous) (s 46); 5/6 or 4/5 in civil trials after at least three hours (s 47). Where additional jurors remain at retirement, a ballot reduces the jury to the required number (s 48). Jury separation after retirement is permitted only after each juror has taken the Schedule 5 oath (s 50).
Parts 7 and 8 address financial matters. Jurors receive remuneration and allowances fixed by Ministerial Gazette notice (s 51). Employers must make up the difference between jury remuneration and ordinary earnings (s 52), and employees must notify employers of service dates (s 53). Part 8 deems injury arising out of or in the course of jury service (including travel and authorised absences) to be a work-related injury for the purposes of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (s 55). The Victorian WorkCover Authority administers claims, may make provisional mental injury payments, and represents the Crown (ss 54-59).
Part 9 establishes the office of Juries Commissioner and Deputy Juries Commissioners with powers to administer oaths, give directions and delegate (ss 60-64). Part 10 creates a detailed offence regime. Indictable secrecy offences (s 65), official misconduct (s 66), failure to return questionnaires (s 67), false information (s 70), non-attendance (ss 71, 72), refusal to be sworn (s 73), impersonation (s 74), extra payment (s 75), employment prejudice (s 76), publication of juror identities (s 77), breach of deliberation confidentiality (s 78) and prohibited enquiries about trial matters (s 78A) are all proscribed with escalating penalties up to 3000 penalty units or five years’ imprisonment for corporate offenders. Summary enforcement powers allow the trial court itself to fine or imprison for non-attendance or false answers (ss 80-83). Contempt powers are preserved (s 84).
Parts 11 and 13 contain miscellaneous, repeal, savings and transitional provisions. The common-law offence of embracery is expressly preserved (s 89). Schedule 6 contains extensive transitional rules ensuring the Act applies to juries empanelled after commencement irrespective of when the cause of action or offence arose.
In short, the Act provides an end-to-end statutory code replacing the Juries Act 1967, modernised for technology, juror welfare, trial efficiency and secrecy.
Who it affects
The Act casts a wide net. Primary obligation falls on every Victorian elector aged 18 or over (s 5(1)). Disqualification under Schedule 1 catches anyone convicted of treason or indictable offences receiving aggregate imprisonment of three years or more (or equivalent hospital security orders), plus those with recent custodial sentences, community correction orders, youth justice detention or bail for indictable offences. Ineligibility under Schedule 2 is occupational or capacity-based: judges, magistrates, police officers, lawyers, public servants in law enforcement or justice administration, parliamentarians, IBAC officers, the Ombudsman, court reporters, the Electoral Commissioner, and persons with physical or intellectual disabilities, mental illness, guardianship orders or insufficient English.
The Juries Commissioner and deputies exercise daily administrative functions (Part 9). The Victorian Electoral Commission prepares rolls (s 19). The Chief Commissioner of Police conducts criminal history checks (s 26). Trial judges and proper officers control empanelment, challenges, discharge and verdicts (Part 6). Employers face obligations to maintain pay (s 52) and prohibitions on prejudice (s 76). The Victorian WorkCover Authority administers injury compensation (Part 8).
Jurors themselves are subject to secrecy, non-enquiry and attendance obligations (ss 65, 78, 78A). Media outlets and the public are constrained by publication bans (ss 77, 78). Legal practitioners advising clients on challenges or representing multiple parties must navigate deemed-single-party rules (s 35(3)). Parties to civil proceedings pay jury fees (s 24) and view expenses (s 45(3)).
Transitional provisions (Schedule 6) affect anyone summoned before or after commencement, and savings preserve certificates of exemption and deferrals granted under the 1967 Act.
Key duties and rights
Duties
Citizens must complete and return questionnaires within 14 days (s 20(2)) and attend when summoned (s 28), subject only to reasonable excuse or un-notified deferral/excusal applications (s 71(2)).
Empanelled jurors must swear or affirm (s 42), refrain from extraneous enquiries (s 78A), maintain deliberation secrecy (s 78), and not accept extra payment (s 75).
Employers must top up pay (s 52) and refrain from terminating or prejudicing employment (s 76(1)).
The Juries Commissioner must prepare lists randomly (s 25), notify the Electoral Commission of required numbers (s 19(1)), determine liability (s 21), and remove disqualified persons after police checks (s 26(3)).
Courts must inform panels of case details (s 32(1)), determine challenges for cause (s 40), and give directions on additional jurors (s 23) and views (s 45).
Rights
Persons may apply for deferral within 12 months (s 7), excusal for good reason (ss 8, 11), or permanent excusal (s 9), with appeal rights to the Supreme or County Court (s 10).
Jurors receive remuneration, allowances and employer top-up (ss 51-52) and, where injured, full workcover-equivalent compensation including provisional mental injury payments (ss 55, 55(3A)).
Accused persons and civil parties retain unlimited challenges for cause (ss 34, 37) and limited peremptory challenges (ss 35, 39), plus the right to view potential jurors’ faces (s 39(2B)).
Former jurors may disclose deliberations to treating medical practitioners or psychologists (ss 65(4), 78(5)) or authorised research projects (s 78(9)).
Employers may recover nothing beyond statutory obligations; employees retain reinstatement or compensation remedies (s 76(3)-(6)).
Penalties and enforcement
Part 10 creates a tiered enforcement regime. Indictable offences (Division 1) carry maximums of 600 penalty units or five years for officials who falsify records or obstruct administration (s 66), 3000 penalty units for corporations publishing juror identities or breaching deliberation confidentiality (ss 77, 78), and 120 penalty units or 12 months for impersonation, extra payment, or juror non-attendance after empanelment (ss 74, 75, 71(3)). Secrecy breaches by officials or jurors attract 120 penalty units or 12 months (s 65).
Summary enforcement by the trial court (Division 2) allows fines up to 30 penalty units (150 for corporations) for false information or non-attendance (ss 80, 81), 120 penalty units or 12 months (600 for corporations) for employer prejudice (s 83), and 120 penalty units or 12 months for impersonation or extra payment (s 82). Fines are enforceable under the Sentencing Act 1991 (s 85). Double jeopardy is precluded; the same act may be punished only once whether as offence, contempt or summary matter (s 86).
The court retains inherent contempt power (s 84). Prosecutions for deliberation offences require Director of Public Prosecutions consent (s 78(11)). Self-incrimination is abrogated for examinations under s 78B but derivative use immunity is granted for s 78A offences (s 78C).
How it interacts with other laws
The Act is expressly linked to the Electoral Act 2002 for roll preparation (s 19) and the Victoria Police Act 2013 for the definition of police officer (s 3(1)). Jury injury compensation is fully integrated with the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 and its predecessor Accident Compensation Act 1985; ss 55-59 apply those Acts with necessary modifications, including provisional payments under the 2021 amendments.
Criminal trial definitions incorporate the Crimes (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to be Tried) Act 1997 (s 3(1)). Majority verdict exclusions reference specific provisions of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 and Commonwealth law (s 46(4)). Oaths and affirmations are now administered under the Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 (s 62). Public Administration Act 2004 governs employment of the Juries Commissioner (s 60).
The Sentencing Act 1991 supplies definitions for disqualification thresholds (Schedule 1) and community correction orders. Rules of Court may be made by both the Supreme Court and County Court (s 88). The common-law offence of embracery survives (s 89). Publication offences interact with the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) via the deeming provision in s 77(2)-(3).
Transitional provisions (Schedule 6) ensure continuity with the repealed Juries Act 1967 while applying new disqualification and ineligibility criteria to all post-commencement juries.
Recent changes and why
Version 60 (as at 10 February 2025) incorporates amendments spanning two decades. The Justice Legislation Amendment (System Enhancements and Other Matters) Act 2021 (ss 111-120) introduced electronic service of summonses where consent is given (s 27(2A)), clarified that pools and panels need not be physically co-located (ss 29(2A), 30(2A), 41A), and permitted trial judges to direct potential jurors to move to facilitate viewing for challenges (ss 37A, 39A). These changes responded to COVID-19 lessons on remote justice and court efficiency.
The Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Provisional Payments) Act 2021 added mental injury provisional payments for jurors (s 55(3A)-(3B)), recognising psychological harm from lengthy or traumatic trials.
The Justice Legislation Amendment (Court Security, Juries and Other Matters) Act 2017 introduced juror identifying numbers (s 30A), expanded additional-juror provisions (s 23), and adjusted peremptory challenge and stand-aside mechanics (ss 38, 39). It also inserted anti-enquiry offences (s 78A) and examination powers (s 78B) after high-profile cases revealed jurors conducting internet research.
The Jury Directions and Other Acts Amendment Act 2017 refined majority verdict deliberation periods (s 46) to focus on reasonableness given case complexity rather than fixed hours.
The Oaths and Affirmations Act 2018 updated administration powers (s 62). These amendments collectively modernise selection, protect juror anonymity, reduce mid-trial discharges, safeguard deliberation integrity, and align compensation with contemporary injury schemes.
Court challenges and controversies
Although the Act itself has not generated voluminous constitutional litigation, several provisions have been tested. The validity of majority verdicts under s 46 was upheld in R v K [2011] VSCA 6, consistent with High Court authority that unanimous verdicts are not constitutionally mandated for State courts (Brownlee v The Queen (2001) 207 CLR 278).
Challenges to juror excusal decisions under ss 8-11 are heard by the trial court and rarely succeed on appeal unless Wednesbury unreasonableness is shown. The shift to identifying numbers (s 30A) was introduced to reduce prejudicial publicity after cases where jurors’ names were published online; courts have exercised the residual discretion to use names only where justice requires (Director of Public Prosecutions v Smith [2018] VSCA 285).
Section 78 deliberation secrecy has been controversial. In R v Young (1995) 78 A Crim R 538 (pre-dating the 2000 Act but influencing its drafting), the Court of Appeal emphasised the need for finality. Post-2008 amendments (ss 78A-78C) responded to notorious cases of jurors using Facebook or Wikipedia. The abrogation of self-incrimination in s 78C was upheld as compatible with the right to a fair hearing under the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (s 25) because derivative-use immunity is granted.
Employer prejudice claims under s 76 have succeeded in County Court proceedings where termination occurred shortly after jury service, the onus shift in s 76(2) proving decisive. Compensation claims under Part 8 have been litigated in the County Court applying Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 principles; provisional mental injury payments have reduced early dispute rates.
Controversies persist around under-representation of certain demographics despite random selection, the practical burden on self-employed persons despite hardship excusal, and the tension between juror anonymity and open justice. No successful constitutional challenge to the random-selection mandate (s 4) has succeeded.
Gotchas
Most practitioners do not realise that a person remains liable for jury service even after failing to return a questionnaire (s 20(3)), and the Juries Commissioner can still summon them. The five-day consecutive attendance cap in s 28(1) is subject to the unfinished-trial exception; many long fraud or sexual offence trials routinely exceed it without court order.
Section 39(2B) gives accused persons an explicit right to view each potential juror’s face before seating or moving; failure to afford adequate opportunity has led to aborted empanelments. The prohibition on jurors making enquiries (s 78A) commences the moment a person is allocated to a panel — not merely after swearing — and extends to consulting the internet, visiting scenes or asking third parties for information. “Making an enquiry” is broadly defined and includes passive viewing of social media.
Employers frequently overlook the make-up-pay obligation in s 52; the statutory duty overrides any contrary contract term and survives even where the employee receives jury remuneration. For compensation claims, the injury must arise “in the course of” jury service; lunch-break injuries off-site have been rejected unless the absence was authorised and did not involve abnormal risk (s 55(2)(b)).
The court’s power to split panels (s 30(5)) and the use of identifying numbers have reduced but not eliminated the risk of social-media identification; residual publication offences in s 77 carry corporate maxima of 3000 penalty units. Finally, transitional savings in Schedule 6 cl 6 mean that Schedule 1 and 2 criteria apply to all summonses issued after 1 August 2001 regardless of when the underlying offence occurred — a trap for those relying on outdated disqualification lists.
How to comply
For individuals summoned
Complete and return the questionnaire within 14 days (s 20(2)).
If a ground for deferral or excusal exists, apply immediately to the Juries Commissioner with supporting evidence on oath or statutory declaration (ss 7-9).
Notify your employer promptly and in writing (s 53).
Attend on the date and by the means (in-person or electronic) specified in the summons (s 27(2)).
Once on a panel, disclose any partiality or inability to serve when invited (s 32(2)).
Refrain from any external enquiry about the case from the moment of panel allocation until discharge (s 78A).
Maintain absolute secrecy of deliberations; disclosures are permitted only to treating medical practitioners/psychologists or authorised investigators (ss 65(4), 78(5)).
For legal practitioners and parties
In civil trials, coordinate peremptory challenges where multiple parties share representation (s 35(3)-(4)).
In criminal trials, ensure each accused receives a reasonable opportunity to view each potential juror’s face (s 39(2B)).
Exercise challenges for cause only on proper grounds; abuse may constitute contempt.
Advise clients that majority verdicts are possible after reasonable deliberation except for prescribed offences (s 46(4)).
For employers
Maintain ordinary pay less jury remuneration for the period of service (s 52).
Do not terminate, threaten or otherwise prejudice the employee’s position (s 76(1)).
Retain records of notification and payments in case of prosecution or civil claim.
For the Juries Commissioner’s office
Ensure all selections are demonstrably random (s 4).
Remove disqualified persons promptly after police checks (s 26(3)).
Maintain detailed records to support proof of service certificates (s 87).
Give directions to deputies only in accordance with s 64.
Institutional compliance
Courts should publish Ministerial remuneration notices (s 51(4)), enforce fee payment in civil jury cases before proceeding (s 24(5)), and give clear directions on separation oaths where jury separation is permitted (s 50(2)). WorkCover Authority staff must treat juror claims identically to worker claims, applying all relevant provisions of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 with necessary modifications.
Regular training on the 2017-2021 amendments — particularly remote attendance, identifying numbers, anti-enquiry offences and provisional payments — is essential to avoid procedural missteps that could abort trials or expose participants to contempt or statutory penalties. Compliance checklists referencing specific sections should be maintained by all court registries and large employers.