The Jury Act, 1998

The Jury Act, 1998 provides the rules for the selection of jurors in any civil or criminal trial by a jury in Saskatchewan. Jurors must be Canadian citizens, residents of Saskatchewan and at least 18 years of age.

The following people are excluded from jury service:

• members of the Privy Council, the Senate, and the House of Commons;
• members and officers of the Legislative Assembly;
• reeves, councillors, and mayors;
• members of boards of education, the Conseil Scolaire Fransaskois, and boards of trustees of school districts or conseil d'ecoles;
• people who are or at any time have been judges, lawyers, members of any police force, justices of the peace, or coroners;
• officials or employees of the Saskatchewan Department of Justice, or the Canada Department of Justice or Department of the Solicitor General;
• spouses of the above persons;
• people who are legally confined in an institution;
• people who are certified incompetent; and
• people who are unable to understand the language in which the trial is to be conducted.

A person summoned to serve as a juror who is not in the category of excluded persons but who does not want to serve for other reasons, such as illness, age, or where attendance would result in serious hardship, must apply for relief from jury service at least ten days before the trial date. The application is made to the sheriff at the judicial centre where the jury is to sit.

In a civil case, a jury consists of six jurors, any five of whom may return a verdict. Civil juries may be used only in cases of libel, slander, malicious arrest, malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, where the amount claimed exceeds $10,000, or where a judge decides it is in the public interest.

Jury selection for criminal cases is dealt with under the Criminal Code.