The 13,000 Bay residents who avoided jury service last year will find it a lot harder after last week's changes to the justice system.
Of the 20,886 people summonsed for jury service last year, 61 per cent were excused and 23 per cent simply failed to appear.
Justice Minister Simon Power said
changes to the system would mean being excused from jury service would soon be the exception and not the rule.
Under the new rules if you cannot make it to jury service, you will have to serve on a jury at convenient time within 12 months. Mr Power said the changes to the jury rules were "a component part of a much bigger piece of work".
He had "a very high degree of confidence that people do want to do their civic duty and serve on a jury".
"It's just that the way the current arrangements are in place does not give them the flexibility to make decisions at four weeks' notice about whether it fits," Mr Power said.
Other changes to the criminal justice system may include looking at what could be inferred by a defendant's failure to appear in court and raising the threshold for a defendant electing to have a jury trial.
There may also be limits on "alternative pleadings".
"It is designed to get justice done more swiftly because timeliness is one of the key components of delivering good justice, but we have to be mindful of defendants' rights," Mr Power said. A large body of work on the criminal justice system would cut waiting times for a jury trial in the High Court from the current 16 months and in the district court from 13 months.
There have also been changes in the laws governing name suppression.
