Push for the lifting of the ban on blind/deaf jurors

From: ABC Online - Australia - Apr 6, 2004

The World Today - Tuesday, 6 April , 2004 12:18:00

Reporter: Nick Grimm

TANYA NOLAN: Should the deaf and the blind be allowed to sit on Australian juries? The Law Reform Commission in NSW wants people to consider this question, and has just released a discussion paper examining whether the current ban should be overturned.

Groups representing people with disabilities say those accused of crimes are entitled to be judged by a jury of their peers, and that means a jury representative of all Australians.

But as Nick Grimm reports, the push for deaf or blind jurors also raises many practical considerations that need to be tackled.

NICK GRIMM: It is an old legal principle that 'justice is blind', but at least on one level the justice system in Australia has long excluded those who are blind themselves, as well as the deaf.

Australians without sight and hearing are unable to serve on juries, the result of the belief that those accused of crimes are entitled to be judged by those who can see and hear the evidence for themselves.

The Law Reform Commission in New South Wales is re-examining that attitude, releasing a discussion paper to prompt debate over whether juries should in future include the deaf and the blind.

Law Reform Commissioner, Michael Tilbury.

MICHAEL TILBURY: One of the things which has been pressed upon us, and certainly of which there is some evidence, is that of course blind or deaf people acquire skills of concentration, for example, which are… which in practice far in excess of those of people who are not… who are sighted or can hear normally. So, I mean, that is another factor which we have to take into account.

NICK GRIMM: But as Commissioner Michael Tilbury acknowledges, reform to jury selection would pose some practical challenges that would need to be overcome.

MICHAEL TILBURY: As far as lawyers are concerned, the major concern which comes through in the suggestion that juries should be made… or that blind and deaf people should be able to serve on juries, is that it would essentially compromise the fairness of the trial, because remember juries are principally used in criminal proceedings.

And the way in which it would compromise the fairness of the trail, is that there is a concern that the juries… that the blind or deaf people would not be able to fully… either to comprehend or to deliberate on the evidence which was presented before them. That is the major concern which is expressed by lawyers.

NICK GRIMM: But disabilities groups believe the practical problems are trivial compared to the overriding principal at stake, that of making the justice system more inclusive.

Philip French is from People With Disabilities New South Wales.

PHILIP FRENCH: It's important to understand why this issue is important to people with disability. Some civic duties like jury service are an expression of our citizenship, or membership of the communality of our community and our responsibilities to each other as citizens.

It sends a very, very negative message to people with disability to exclude them from a duty of citizenship. So, really what this is all about is claiming the right to act as a full citizen.

NICK GRIMM: There would have to be practical considerations though, wouldn't there?

PHILIP FRENCH: Well, often those constraints can be dealt with through changes to court processes or infrastructure. Really, there is no substantial barrier to someone who is deaf or blind participating in a jury and many of the accommodations that are needed to enable participation benefit other jurors as well.

TANYA NOLAN: Philip French from the group, People With Disabilities New South Wales.

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation