Written question asked by Peter Lamb (Labour) on Monday, 13 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 July 2026. It was answered by Sarah Sackman (Labour) on Thursday, 23 July 2026 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Juries

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department will make an assessment on the potential to utilise the Government's Tell Us Once service to avoid the unnecessary issuing of jury notices to the recently deceased.

Answer

The jury summoning process has for decades relied on electoral registration data, provided to us by local authorities. This information is received on an annual basis, which means there can be (and are) instances where a death has occurred but has not yet been reflected in the data relied on for jury summoning. We recognise the distress this can cause to bereaved families and are exploring how this issue can be further addressed.

While there are currently no immediate or specific plans to use the Tell Us Once service for jury summoning purposes, we are considering a range of opportunities to improve the quality and timeliness of data used in the jury summoning process, including to reduce the likelihood of summonses being issued to deceased individuals.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 18480
Session: 2026-27
Subjects: Juries Tell Us Once programme
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Juries

Secondary information

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