ANTIQUATED JURY SELECTION PROCESS

Tracy Tyler of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record has a front page story titled " Jury selection process costs economy". If you look carefully you will notice that the quoted title of the Record's story is a slightly different colour than the rest of the words. A left click on the story title will bring up the Record story for you.

The overall gist of this story is that the entire jury selection process is needlessly archaic, slow, expensive and apparently thoughtless on the part of the responsible authorities which ultimately would be the Ministry of the Attorney General. Every year between 100,000 and 150,000 Ontario citizens are summoned to appear to be potential jurors. This particular article focuses on the inertia and problems in the Toronto area. Speaking personally, about four years ago I was summoned for jury selection, to Superior Court in Kitchener. I honestly can't state that I found the process riddled with repetition or delay. Perhaps that is because I was excused from jury duty very quickly. I can state that I did find the process arbitrary and grossly biased. As stated on Page 3 of the Record "The prosecution and defence can also challenge and reject jurors...". This is what occurred in my case and was caused by the intervention of the Judge, one Robert Reilly. I do not have any documentation in my possesion to back this up but I have been verbally told by a lawyer that Judge Reilly is the most appealed Judge in Waterloo Region. Please note I said most appealed not most appealing.

The good Judge took it upon himself to advise both the Crown and the Defence that he Judge Reilly knew me personally through a prior Civil matter and he inferred that it would be best if I was not chosen. The Crown and Defence apparently not wishing to upset the person judging their respective cases deferred to his opinion. Quite frankly I was shocked by this. Since when is a citizen assumed to be inelegible for jury duty based on a years earlier civil matter? Neither the Crown nor Defence asked me any pertinent or probing questions. Neither the Crown nor the Defence asked me if my former knowlege of Judge Reilly would somehow cloud my decision making in this criminal matter.

As was stated in the Record's article many jurors are out of pocket for the time they spend in both selection and in actual jury duty. In my case I left my construction job a week early (seasonal) in order to attend my jury summons. I was willing and prepared to do so in order to fulfill my obligations as a citizen of this country. The jury selection process including judicial interference precluded this happening.