Juries Act 1981

Jury service

7: Disqualification

You could also call this:

"Who Can't Be on a Jury"

You cannot serve on a jury if you have been sentenced to imprisonment for life or for 3 years or more. You also cannot serve on a jury if you have been sentenced to imprisonment for 3 months or more, or to home detention for 3 months or more, in the last 5 years. This rule applies to you even if the sentence was given a long time ago, but the 5-year rule only applies to sentences given in the last 5 years.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM44671.

This page was last updated on 24 February 2026 — View changes

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6: Qualification and liability, or

"Who can be called to serve on a jury"

8: Certain persons not to serve, or

"Some people cannot do jury service, like judges, politicians, and police officers."

7Disqualification

The following persons are not qualified to serve on any jury in any court on any occasion:
any one who, at any time, has been sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term of 3 years or more, or to preventive detention:
any one who, at any time within the preceding 5 years, has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 3 months or more, or to home detention for a period that is, or is more than, 3 months.

Compare

1908 No 90 s 5
1948 No 15 s 35
1963 No 141 s 3

Notes

Section 7(b): amended, on 29 April 2013, by section 5 of the Juries (Jury Service and Protection of Particulars of Jury List Information) Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 75).