Jurors with a Disability
Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: I ask the Attorney General, and Minister for Justice the following questions without notice. Is the Attorney General aware that people who are disabled, such as blind or deaf, are still barred from serving on New South Wales juries? Is this despite the fact that the then Attorney General, Bob Debus, referred this issue to the New South Wales Law Reform Commission in 2002 for investigation? Will the Attorney General confirm that this matter was referred to the Law Reform Commission more than five years ago, but that the commission’s report is yet to be released, despite being on the Attorney General’s desk since September 2006?
Is the Attorney General aware that a recent study conducted at Macquarie University found that a group of people who were deaf had an equal understanding of a criminal trial judge’s summing up to the jury, conveyed through a sign language interpreter, as a group of hearing people who listened to it?
The Hon. John Hatzistergos: The honourable member is wrong: the report has been released and I have made an announcement about it. I refer him to both the report and my announcement.
