Thousands shirk jury service

Many people are getting out of jury service in Western Bay.

Thousands of Western Bay citizens are shirking jury service every year, new figures reveal.

A local Crown prosecutor says the extent of jury dodging is a "serious problem" for the community. But the Justice Ministry says measures introduced to curb people side-stepping their civic responsibility are now paying off.

Nearly half a million Kiwis have escaped jury duty nationwide since October 2010.

More than 11,000 people skipped jury service in Tauranga last year alone and nearly 12,300 in 2011.

More than 5000 have already avoided jury duty this year.

About a fifth of those dodging service had no legitimate excuse.

Most Tauranga residents said they could not serve because of work obligations and thousands more opted out because they were older than 65.

Many others cited personal circumstances and family commitments, and more than 100 said they could not be on a jury because of their religious beliefs.

Tauranga Crown solicitor Greg Hollister-Jones said the rules needed to be tougher on people skipping jury service.

"It's generally the busiest people who seek to be excused or who don't turn up and they are often the most capable."

There was a whole pool of professional and business people who were not contributing to jury service, Mr Hollister-Jones said.

"And that's a serious issue for the community."

Employers needed to be more supportive and there should be less wriggle room, he said.

From October 2010 until June this year, 478,470 New Zealanders got out of jury duty nationwide.

Of these, 101,916 had no legitimate reason while 100,643 others deferred the service to a more convenient time.

Business or job obligations was the most popular excuse, followed by being aged 65 or over.

Family commitments was another common reason, as was health, physical disability, personal circumstances and having served already in the last two years.

However, the numbers appear to be dropping, with 145,605 people dodging service last year compared with 199,662 in 2011.

District courts general manager Tony Fisher said the ministry had introduced two key changes to the jury system to improve attendance since 2010.

Firstly, jury district boundaries were extended from 30km around each jury courthouse to 45km.

Secondly, jurors could now postpone service to a more convenient time, rather than being excused outright.

Jurors can also be excused if they have a criminal history, intellectual disability or "ineligible occupation".

Last week, the High Court quashed a 10-day jail sentence for a man who refused to sit on a jury. His prison sentence was replaced with a $750 fine.

Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly said though jury service might cause minor issues for some employers, the system was flexible enough for most businesses to work around.