New Zealanders back jury service experience

New Zealanders who serve on juries are enthusiastic about serving, with more than 90 per cent of jurors satisfied with their experience, a Ministry of Justice survey has found.

The Juror Satisfaction Survey has been conducted annually in the District and High Courts since 2008. The survey aims to understand jurors' satisfaction with the services and facilities provided by the Ministry.

Chief Operating Officer Carl Crafar says the survey results indicate New Zealanders are satisfied with the services and facilities provided during jury service.

"Jury service is a valuable and important civic duty and we're grateful to everyone who serves. The survey results are an endorsement of the work the Ministry has done to improve the experience for people serving on juries. We'll soon be updating our jury service website to make it easier for potential jurors to find the information they need," says Mr Crafar.

Mr Crafar says the Ministry would be acting on areas for improvement identified in the survey.

"We'll be improving the communication around whether jurors are required in court the following day and better communication of where jurors can find information on the defendant's sentence after the trial."

Key findings of the survey include:

  • Last year, 888 jurors participated in the survey and 93 per cent overall were satisfied with the services and facilities – the highest rating received to date.
  • Satisfaction with the way jurors were treated by Ministry employees received the highest rating of all measures, at 98 per cent.
  • Some measures have notably increased from 2017, including satisfaction with the safety and security at court, which now sits at 91 per cent, and satisfaction with the information sent to jurors before the trial, which now sits at 93 per cent.

Most people on the electoral roll who live within 45km of a courthouse where jury trials are held can be randomly selected for jury service. Jury trials are held at about half of all courthouses.

Approximately 130,000 people a year are summonsed to attend jury service. Of those, 16,000 people serve on more than 1350 jury trials held every year.

The full report can be found here:

Juror Satisfaction Survey: 2018 results [PDF, 797 KB]

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