8Juries Commissioner may excuse for good reason

8 Juries Commissioner may excuse for good reason (1) A person, or another person on their behalf, may, at any time before the person becomes a member of a panel, apply to the Juries Commissioner for the person to be excused from jury service for the whole or any part of the jury service period. (2) On an application under subsection (1), the Juries Commissioner may excuse a person from jury service for the whole or any part of the jury service period if satisfied that there is good reason for doing so. (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), good reason includes any of the following— (a) illness or poor health; (b) incapacity; (c) the distance to travel to the place at which the person would be required to attend for jury service is— (i) if the place is in Melbourne, over 50 kilometres; or (ii) if the place is outside Melbourne, over 60 kilometres; (d) travel to the place at which the person would be required to attend for jury service would take excessive time or cause excessive inconvenience; (e) substantial hardship to the person would result from the person attending for jury service; (f) substantial financial hardship would result from the person attending for jury service; (g) substantial inconvenience to the public would result from the person attending for jury service; (h) the person has the care of dependants and alternative care during the person's attendance for jury service is not reasonably available for those dependants; (i) the advanced age of the person; (j) the person is a practising member of a religious society or order the beliefs or principles of which are incompatible with jury service; (k) any other matter of special urgency or importance. (4) In order to excuse a person under this section, the Juries Commissioner must be satisfied— S. 8(4)(a) amended by No. 6/2018 s. 68(Sch. 2 item 74.2). (5) If the Juries Commissioner decides to refuse an application to be excused from jury service, the Juries Commissioner must notify the person in respect of whom the application was made.