Probation officers ineligible to sit on juries, Ontario judge rules

Probation officers are part of law enforcement andtherefore ineligible to sit on juries, even if relevant legislationdoes not specifically mention them, an Ontario judge has ruled.

The finding comes in the case of a woman known as jury panelmember No. 407, who asked the court to excuse her from jury duty.

She said her work as a probation officer with the Ministry of theSolicitor General could result in a potential conflict with a client.

In his ruling, Superior Court Justice Gregory Ellies in NorthBay, Ont., rejected the conflict scenario, saying it would be unlikely to arise. Panel members, the judge said, are told who isinvolved in a trial and asked if they know any of them.

"In this way, the panel member would be able to avoid sitting ona jury in which she has a conflict with a client," Elliesconcluded.

At the same time, the judge said there was in fact a valid reasonto excuse her her role as a probation officer.

Ontario's Juries Act says people "engaged in the enforcement oflaw" are ineligible to be jurors. The legislation lists severalexamples, including jail wardens, sheriffs and police officers. Itdoes not mention probation officers.

However, Ellies said the powers and duties of probation officersare similar to those of correctional officers. For example, he said,the former monitor offenders in the community while guards monitorthem in custody. It is clear, Ellies said, that the duties of aprobation officer "include law enforcement."

Ellies also turned to Canadian jurisdictions to see how they dealwith the issue and concluded they provided backing for hisinterpretation. In particular, he found equivalent jury rules inManitoba, Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Yukon"explicitly disqualify" probation officers from serving as jurors.

The language of those statutes, he said, shows that otherprovinces consider probation officers to be engaged in theadministration of justice of which law enforcement is at least asubset, Ellies wrote.

"Based on the assumption that probation officers perform similarsupervisory and enforcement duties throughout the country, it isreasonable to conclude that probation officers in Ontario, likethose in Alberta or Nova Scotia, are involved in law enforcementsuch that it would disqualify them from serving on a jury," Elliesconcluded.

"Therefore, I have granted the request of jury panel member No.407 to be excused from attending for jury selection," Ellies said."Her name should also be removed from the current jury roll."