Dean Jacqui: Juries (Jury Service and Protection of Particulars of Jury List Information) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Dean Jacqui: Juries (Jury Service and Protection of Particulars of Jury List Information) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 31 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:4123. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) 
: 
 The member who just resumed his seat Charles Chauvel raised an interesting issue: how do we properly protect jurors’ information? That member cited the age of Google so let us have a look at that. If I wanted to and if I was allowed to I could google that member right now on my iPhone. I would venture to say that many people in New Zealand now—it does not matter where they are—have this kind of device that these days will give one instant information on just about anything should they care to look. So the question is how do we stop that? Of course that very question is the subject of a lot of debate. There are conferences held on how— 
Chris Hipkins 
: Say something useful. 
JACQUI DEAN 
: —do we protect information. Of course that little member over there Chris Hipkins said “Say something useful.” What I am saying—and I will say it a bit more carefully perhaps so that the member can understand it because the issue here is quite important—if we go to this bill it is called the Juries (Jury Service and Protection of Particulars of Jury List Information) Amendment Bill. It is about an incident where a female juror’s information was given to a person who was accused of a crime. That person—and this is not the only time this has happened—then used that information against that juror to stalk that juror and to make that juror’s life miserable. So that member across the other side of the House can chip away—chip away get it? But actually this is quite an important issue. Part 2 of the bill I believe makes a very serious and good attempt to protect the particulars of jurors particularly female women jurors who up until now and the passage of this bill have been in a way victimised and vulnerable to those people against whom they are sitting who have been accused of a crime. 
 Currently a jury list has to contain things like the name the occupation the date of birth and the full address of its potential jurors. That is an awful lot of information that right now is available to those people who are defending themselves in particular. They can be in receipt of that information can memorise it can take it back to the jail and can then use it against that person. If that member across the Chamber and his colleagues think that that is matter of some delight then I venture to disagree with them. I would also venture to say that the provisions in this bill in Part 2 deal with this in a proper way. 
I would also like to remind that member that section 14A(6) of the Juries Act makes it clear that misconduct in relation to jury lists may now be treated as contempt of court. That was quite a serious and new offence to bring into the Juries Act. I believe—and of course I sat on the select committee that considered this bill—that the provisions in Part 2 do provide that protection that our jurors need. I would argue that that is the most important provision in this bill—these good protections for jurors who hitherto have been subject to some harassment and victimisation. Thank you.