Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prohibiting those people selected for jury service from serving on juries if they have not received both doses of a covid-19 vaccine.

We have assessed the option of creating juries with only fully vaccinated people. We believe that selecting a jury in this way cannot currently be made consistent with the random jury selection process and would introduce bias to the makeup of juries. We have assessed, therefore, that the proposal would not be in the interests of justice.

The institution of trial by jury is a key component of our criminal justice system and the interests of justice are paramount in determining how juries are selected. The random selection process exists to ensure not only that there is no bias but also that juries are representative of the communities from which they are drawn. The principle of the random selection of jurors has long been an integral part of maintaining a fair justice system.

On testing, rapid (lateral flow device) COVID tests are being offered to all citizens and we encourage anyone attending court, including jurors, to get a test to support efforts to help stop the spread of the virus. Lateral flow home-test kits are also available to collect at every court and tribunal in England and Wales for all regular court and tribunal users including jurors.