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The Role of the Jury

+Qualifications Each province has different qualifications

Usually need to be 18 years old

Resident of the province for at least one year

Typically politicians, people working in the justice system (lawyers, prison guards, police officers, probation officers) cannot serve as jurors.

People may be exempted from jury duty for religious or medical reasons, financial hardships, or if they have served on a jury in the past 2 years.

Application for exemption goes to the sheriff.

+Selection

Selected randomly from electoral polling lists.

A list of potential jurors is called a jury panel.

The accused is brought in front of the judge and jury panel for arraignment to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.

If the plea is not guilty, the Crown and defence attorneys will select jurors from the jury panel.

There are six steps for jury selection (pg. 173).