Section 42: Trial by jury

42. Trial by jury (1) Subject to section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act and to any other enactment relating to trials without a jury, criminal trials before the Supreme Court shall be held before a presiding Judge and a jury consisting of 9 persons who are qualified to serve as jurors. (2) Subject to subsection (3) and to section 57, every citizen of Mauritius who— (a) has at any time resided in the Island of Mauritius for one year; and (b) is between the ages of 21 and 65, shall be qualified to serve as a juror. (3) (a) No person who has been convicted of a crime shall be qualified to act as a juror. (b) No proceeding shall be open to objection or challenge on the ground that a person disqualified under paragraph (a) has acted as a juror. (4) The Judges shall, by rules of Court, make provision for the preparation of a list of jurors and for the summoning of panels. (5) (a) A Judge may, on the trial of any cause before him, excuse a person summoned as a juror from serving on the jury if he is satisfied that the person— (i) is not qualified to act as a juror; [Issue 1] C54 – 12 Revised Laws of Mauritius (ii) is not sufficiently conversant with the English language to act as a juror; (iii) ought to be excused from acting as a juror on account of any serious physical incapacity or any mental deficiency; or (iv) being a woman, ought to be excused from so serving for any medical reason or any other reason which the Judge may consider to be just and reasonable, having regard to the conditions of her family life. (b) Where a person is excused from serving on a jury pursuant to paragraph (a), the name of the person shall be erased from the jury book for the current year and any longer time which the Judge may think proper. [S. 42 amended by Act 29 of 1992.]