Natalie Wade

• Equality in the Jury Room: A case study

  1st Jul 2016

  The denial of a deaf person’s right to exercise their citizenship by participating in juries in Australian courts is longstanding. The stereotyped perceptions against deaf jurors being able to perform these duties without undermining the administration of justice are deeply entrenched in Australian society and court systems. Despite the New South Wales Law Reform Commission’s inquiring into this issue in 2006 and the recent report from Australian Law Reform Commission, Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws, which called for law reform and support to enable deaf persons to participate as jurors, the reality remains that Australian law does not support the participation of deaf jurors.