Proposal to allow deaf UK people to serve on jury duty

*Corrections: 1) David Buxton’s name was misspelled as “Bruxton.” 2) The new proposed law only applies to England and Wales, not Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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Callie Frye: I want to share two exciting news with you about Deaf community in the UK. First - March 15 to 21 is ‘Happy Sign Language Week’. If you look at Twitter, you will see a lot of their celebratory messages and videos about that.

[Short video clip from @HeriotWattBSL with 12 people in a Zoom meeting saying, “Happy BSL Week!]

The other one is the legislative bill called ‘Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) that finally allows Deaf jurors serving on a jury with a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter in the trial proceedings and in the deliberation room.

[Image of jury seats in courtroom]

[Screenshot of a bill that is titled, “POLICE, CRIME, SENTENCING AND COURTS BILL” with text that reads,

“British Sign Language interpreters for deaf jurors (1) The Juries Act 1974 is amended as follows. (2) After section 9B insert— “9C British Sign Language interpreters for deaf jurors (1) For the purpose of section 9B(2), in determining whether or not a person who is deaf should act as a juror, the judge must consider whether the assistance of a British Sign Language interpreter would enable that person to be capable of acting effectively as a juror.”

I wondered who campaigned and made it happen so it is included in the legislative bill. I found two individuals and I contacted David Buxton and Dr. Jemina Napier.

[Images of David Buxton and Dr. Jemina Napier]

David Buxton is currently Chief Executive of Action on Disability, formerly he was Chief Executive of the British Deaf Association (BDA).

He is involved with many organizations concerning Deaf people. He is particularly passionate about getting a legal status for British Sign Language (BSL) and also ensuring Deaf people fully participate and contribute as valued and equal citizens in wider society.

David Buxton: It’s now 2021, and finally, a new day dawns with this change to common law enabling Deaf sign language users to be part of the Justice System. This is long, long, overdue but very welcome.

Dr. Napier is a researcher, college professor and she is also a department chair at the university she works at. She specializes in analyzing interpreting-related best practices. Napier admitted she has bias because she is a Coda, but she is saying there are real barriers in place that hopefully will be removed.

Dr. Napier: I grew up hearing. My parents are deaf and my family is deaf. I grew up in London, U.K. I grew up with BSL.

I asked them how come it is banned for Deaf people to serve on a jury and convene in the jury deliberation room?

They said it is all about their [UK government] own perception and interpretation of laws. It is ambiguous. The law only allows 12 jurors. A BSL interpreter would be considered to be a 13th juror and a violation of law. But advocates say the interpreter should be looked at as a separate role.

David Buxton: From past to now, Deaf people cannot serve on a jury because it has to have 12 jurors not 13. The 13th member being a sign language interpreter.

Dr. Napier: We are aware that in the U.S., there have been many deaf people who have access to be in the jury for many years. But it’s not allowed in Australia and the U.K. The law does not allow a 13th person in the jury. The limit is 12 people. So bringing in an interpreter is considered a violation of the law as written.

Callie: I asked them what is the status of that legislative bill and what does the timeline look like when it gets passed.

The new bill is currently being debated in the House of Commons; this will take a while before going to the House of Lords.. The process might take six months for it to pass both chambers. If it passes, it goes into effect in 2022. The new rule would affect all four “parts” of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, but these countries do not have the same amount of jurors. For instance, England has 12 and 15 for Scotland.

[Image of courthouse]

[SPONSORED VIDEO FROM CONVO: WWW.CONVORELAY.COM]

I asked them how they got involved in the Deaf Jury campaign and prompted them to add it to the legislative bill?

David said he has urged the UK government for a number of years. First it was a person who challenged the Court’s decision to remove him from jury service. His name is Jeff McWhinney. It didn’t work out. There were a few other Deaf people who tried to challenge this too, but not successfully. David used the advantage to use the UNCRPD Alternative Report to reveal the government’s non-compliance with Articles 12, 13 and 14 over jury service. This led the Ministry of Justice -- the equivalent to the U.S. DOJ -- the MOJ to agree to setting up a working panel as known as a ‘task force’ and invited David to sit on so he can advise on how Deaf people can successfully carry out a jury service. At the same time, Dr. Napier attended the working group. She provided her research findings. She usually works on research projects (publishing documents and reports) that supports deaf activism. Napier said her research included conducting actual mock trials with hearing people.

Dr. Napier: When Deaf activists call for changes in being allowed to be on the jury, I make sure to provide them with evidence from my research. It proves that they can.

The hearing and deaf (mock jurors) said that in some ways, having an interpreter present helps to improve the process. It makes the jurors mindful in how they talk and to not interrupt or overlap one other. It’s calmer and they listen to each other better. It’s something that enhances the process. I thought it was interesting. The (hearing) jurors felt having a deaf person in is a type of “Deaf Gain.” It is a deaf gain, right?

Callie: They gave a big thank you to the British Deaf Association for investing their time and unfailing energy into pushing for this law to happen! This campaign has been ongoing since 1999.

Dr. Napier said many people do not want to be jurors, and that’s OK, but you should allow deaf people to “turn it down” when getting jury duty. Deaf people should have that choice. The government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity outright.

A new question I asked was if the legislative bill gets passed --- would the next question be on how do you find a qualified interpreter to attend court proceedings? How about the screening process? Dr. Napier said she hasn’t thought that far ahead. She would like to focus on getting the legislative bill passed first -- taking one step at a time. However, it is possible that the UK will borrow effective models from other countries and adjust from there. She also shared that Ireland has already passed a bill to allow deaf jurors two years ago. They had a deaf juror in one of their trials. Also, there is a similar, “parallel” process in Australia's legislature. I wish you good luck and hope you can finally serve on the jury!

https://bda.org.uk/law-change-deaf-jurors/