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Juries Act 1981

Majority verdicts

29C: Criminal cases

You could also call this:

"What happens in a criminal trial when jurors don't all agree"

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You are on a jury in a criminal case. A majority verdict is when all jurors except one agree on a decision. The court can accept this verdict if the jury has been discussing it for at least 4 hours. You have not all agreed on a verdict. The jury leader tells the court that you will not all agree. The court thinks you have had enough time to discuss the case. If there are multiple charges or people involved, the court can accept a majority verdict for some of them. The court can still ask each juror about their decision. This does not affect section 110 or 143 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011. The court can accept a majority verdict even if the charge includes another offence. This is according to section 110 or 143 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2191701.

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Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Criminal law
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"What happens in civil cases with majority verdicts"

29CCriminal cases

  1. In this section, majority verdict means, in relation to a jury that, at the time of its verdict, consists of a certain number of jurors, a verdict agreed to by all except one of them.

  2. The court may accept a majority verdict in a criminal case if—

  3. the jury, having retired to consider its verdict, has deliberated for at least 4 hours; and
    1. the jurors have not reached a unanimous verdict; and
      1. the foreperson of the jury has stated in open court—
        1. that there is no probability of the jury reaching a unanimous verdict; and
          1. that the jury has reached a majority verdict; and
          2. the court considers that the jury has had a period of time for deliberation that the court thinks reasonable, having regard to the nature and complexity of the trial.

            1. If the case involves 2 or more charges, or 2 or more persons charged, the court may accept a majority verdict in relation to 1 or some of the charges or persons charged, in which case nothing in this section applies to the other charges or the other persons charged.

            2. Nothing in this section—

            3. prevents the court from taking a poll of the jury; or
              1. affects section 110 or 143 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011.

                1. If, in terms of section 110 or 143 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011, the offence charged, as described in the enactment creating the offence or as charged in the charge, includes the commission of any other offence, the court may accept a majority verdict on the offence charged instead of a unanimous verdict on the included offence.

                Notes
                • Section 29C: inserted, on , by section 19 of the Juries Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 40).
                • Section 29C(4)(b): replaced, on , by section 4(1) of the Juries Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 30).
                • Section 29C(5): replaced, on , by section 4(2) of the Juries Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 30).