OffencesN.I.

Failure to fill up and return form of returnN.I.

25.  Any person, required by notice under Article 4 to fill up and return a form of return, who—

(a)refuses, or without lawful excuse neglects, to fill up or cause to be filled up the form of return to the best of his knowledge and belief; or

(b)wilfully makes or causes to be made any false return of any matter specified in the form; or

(c)refuses, or without lawful excuse neglects, to return the form of return or cause it to be returned within 14 days to the Juries Officer for the division in which he resides;

shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

Defaulting jurorsN.I.

26.—(1) Where without reasonable excuse—

(a)any person duly summoned to attend on a jury does not attend in pursuance of the jury summons; or

(b)any person duly summoned to attend on a jury or any talesman—

(i)(whether or not he is present) fails to appear after having

(ii)wilfully withdraws himself from the presence of the court after having appeared,

the court may impose on him a fine not exceeding £1,000.

(2) Section 35 of the [1945 c. 15 (N.I.)] Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 (powers of Crown Court in relation to fines, etc.) shall apply to fines imposed under this Article by any court as it applies to fines imposed by the Crown Court.

[F1Restriction on disclosure of juror information [F2or anonymous elector information]N.I.

26A—(1) A person to whom any of paragraphs (2) to (7) applies must not disclose juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] (see Article 26C) except with lawful authority (see Article 26B).

(2) This paragraph applies to a person—

(a)who is or has been an electoral officer or a court official (see Article 26C); and

(b)who obtained the juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] in the course of his functions as an electoral officer or court official.

(3) This paragraph applies to a person—

(a)who is or has been a person providing services to the [F4Department of Justice in respect of its functions under section 69 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978] or the employee of such a person; and

(b) who obtained the juror information [F3 or anonymous elector information ] for or in connection with the provision of [F5 those ] services F6 . . . .

(4) This paragraph applies to a person—

(a)who is or has been a member of the police service (see Article 26C); and

(b)who obtained the juror information [F3 or anonymous elector information] for or in connection with the making of checks, in accordance with jury check guidelines (see Article 26C), on the person to whom the information relates.

(5) This paragraph applies to any person, other than a court official or a member of the police service, to whom the juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] was disclosed in accordance with jury check guidelines.

(6) This paragraph applies to a person—

(a)who is or has been a juror or summoned as a juror; and

(b)who obtained the juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] as a result of having been a juror or summoned as a juror;

but this paragraph does not apply to a person in so far as the juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] is information about himself.

(7) This paragraph applies to a person who knows, or ought reasonably to have known, that the juror information [F3or anonymous elector information] had previously been disclosed in contravention of paragraph (1).

(8) A person who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;

(b)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine, or to both.

(9) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this Article to prove that he reasonably believed that the disclosure by him was lawful.

Disclosure of juror information [F7or anonymous elector information]: lawful authorityN.I.

26B—(1) For the purposes of Article 26A, juror information [F8or anonymous elector information] is disclosed with lawful authority if any of paragraphs (2) to (9) applies to the disclosure.

(2) This paragraph applies to a disclosure by an electoral officer—

(a)to another electoral officer; or

(b)in accordance with Article 4.

(3) This paragraph applies to a disclosure by a court official—

(a)to another court official;

(b)to the judge of any court; or

(c)to a juror or a person summoned as a juror.

(4) This paragraph applies to a disclosure—

(a)to a person providing services to the [F9Department of Justice in respect of its functions under section 69 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978]; or

(b)to the employee of such a person,

for or in connection with the provision of [F10 those ] services F11 . . . .

(5) This paragraph applies to a disclosure—

(a)by a person providing services to the [F12Department of Justice in respect of its functions under section 69 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978]; or

(b)by the employee of such a person,

if the disclosure is required or authorised to be made by an officer of the court (see Article 2(2)) for or in connection with the provision of [F13 those ] services F14 . . . .

(6) This paragraph applies to a disclosure—

(a)by an officer of the court to a member of the police service;

(b)by a member of the police service to another member of the police service; or

(c)by a member of the police service to an officer of the court,

for or in connection with the making of checks, in accordance with jury check guidelines, on the person to whom the juror information [F15or anonymous elector information] relates.

(7) This paragraph applies to a disclosure to a person other than a member of the police service or an officer of the court if the juror information [F15or anonymous elector information] is disclosed in accordance with jury check guidelines.

(8) This paragraph applies to a disclosure for the purposes of criminal proceedings (but not for the purposes of any proceedings in relation to which the person to whom the juror information [F15or anonymous elector information] relates may be, is, or has been, a juror).

(9) This paragraph applies to a disclosure made with leave of a court.

Interpretation of Articles 26A and 26BN.I.

26C—(1) This Article applies for the purposes of Articles 26A and 26B.

[F16(1A) “Anonymous elector information” means the name, address, date of birth or national insurance number of a person who is identified as having an anonymous entry in the register of electors on the Divisional Jurors List or on any panel prepared under Article 5, where such information was obtained as a result of its inclusion in the Divisional Jurors List or the panel prepared under Article 5.]

(2)  “ Court official ” means—

(a)an officer of the court (see Article 2(2)); or

(b)a court security officer.

(3)  “ Electoral officer ” means—

(a)the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland; or

(b)a person to whom any of his functions are delegated under section 14A(2) of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 or Article 9(2) of the Electoral Law (Northern Ireland) Order 1972.

(4)  “ Juror information ” means information which identifies (or from which it is possible to identify) a particular person as being or as having been—

(a)a juror;

(b)listed on any Divisional Jurors List or on any panel prepared under Article 5; or

(c)selected for inclusion on any such List under Article 4(1) and (2).

(5)  “ Jury check guidelines ” means guidelines issued by the [F17 relevant authority ] relating to the making of additional checks on jurors and the exercise by the Crown of its right under Article 15(4). [F18 ; and for this purpose “ relevant authority ” means—

(a)in relation to cases in which national security or terrorism is involved, the Advocate General for Northern Ireland;

(b)in relation to other cases, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland.]

(6)  “ Member of the police service ” means—

(a)a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland;

(b)a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve;

(c)a member of the police support staff (within the meaning of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000).]