Tynwald has set up a Select Committee (Mr Chris Robertshaw, Chairman; Mr Peter Karran; and Mr Bill Malarkey) to consider the operation of the jury system on the Isle of Man and to report by the sitting in June 2016.

The Committee wishes to give members of the public the opportunity to submit a short summary of their experience of the operation of the jury system.

The Committee is particularly interested in whether the seven man jury should be changed to a twelve man jury and what the practical consequences of that might be; the extent to which jurors should be trained; the threat to the integrity of the jury system posed by social media; whether majority verdicts should be introduced; how the system for exemptions from service on a jury works and whether the circumstances in which people may decline to serve should be broadened (for example to allow self-employed business people to refuse to serve more easily); whether the jury would benefit from a secretary to advise them, much as magistrates have the services of a legally qualified clerk; whether juries should be required to give reasons for verdicts and, linked to this, whether they should routinely be given written instructions by the judge about matters to consider; whether the Electoral Roll is appropriate for selecting juries and, if not, what an alternative might be; and whether the current system for payment for service on a jury is appropriate.

Submissions should be sent to the Clerk of the Committee by Friday 27th November.