Commentary on Sections Juries and members of the Court Martial Section 69: Jurors and electronic communications devices
528.Section 69 inserts new section 15A into the Juries Act 1974, and provides a discretionary power for a judge to order members of a jury to surrender their electronic communications devices for a period of time. Such an order would cover, for example, mobile phone or tablet devices that can be used to send messages or connect to the internet. The judge may only make an order if he or she considers that the order is necessary or expedient in the interests of justice, and that the terms of the order are a proportionate means of safeguarding those interests.
529.The order can specify a period for which the devices must be surrendered, but that period must be during one of the occasions set out in subsection (3) of new section 15A, such as when the members of the jury are in court, and the order may also be subject to exceptions (see subsection (4) of new section 15A).
530.Failure to surrender a device following such an order is a contempt of court (subsection (5)).
531.Paragraph 1 of Schedule 13 (introduced by section 75 of the Act) creates an identical power for senior coroners by amending Part 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009.