Jury Service: Mental Health

Tim Loughton
To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the timetable is for the public consultation on the mental health criteria for jury duty referred to in the report of the Social Exclusion Unit of June 2004.

Mr. Sutcliffe
The subject matter of this consultation has proved problematic. The principal difficulty lies in devising a test that would allow those mentally disordered persons who are capable of undertaking jury service to serve, while excluding those who are incapable of serving, and yet be clear, easily understood and readily operable in practice. We remain committed to this consultation but it is not possible to give a specific timetable.