Alberta Judge Says Potential Unvaccinated Jurors in Sexual Assault Trial Will Be Excused | The Canadian News

A judge at the Alberta Queen’s Court has ruled that potential jurors in an upcoming sexual assault trial in Calgary will be excused if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Judge NE Devlin wrote in his ruling Thursday that allowing unvaccinated people to serve on the jury could unfairly compromise the health of other jurors, court personnel and anyone else connected with the trial.

Additionally, Devlin said that an unvaccinated juror could distract other jurors by making them fear for their health, and said that a juror who develops symptoms could ruin the entire process.

In a recent decision in Ontario, an Ottawa judge ruled that all jurors participating in a murder trial should be fully inoculated with two doses of vaccine.

But a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled earlier this month that a jury did not need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to participate in a fraud trial in Montreal, citing privacy concerns and jury representativeness in its ruling.

Devlin, however, wrote that during the jury selection for the sexual assault trial in Calgary this week, the “handful” of people who were not fully vaccinated “spanned age, gender and ethnicity” and that excusing them would not. it would reduce the capacity of the jury. representativeness.

“In fact, I am satisfied that vaccination is a safe and highly effective means of preventing the spread of coronavirus, the development of COVID 19 infections, and serious illness in those who become infected,” Devlin wrote.

“The public and judicial resources devoted to a jury trial are scarce and valuable, especially at this time. Unnecessarily increasing the risk of a trial being interrupted in these circumstances due to a COVID 19 infection would discredit the administration of justice in the public eye. “

A BC Supreme Court decision last month did not allow the Crown to ask jurors questions about their vaccination status, citing privacy.

Devlin wrote that “judicial discretion to safeguard the proper administration of justice is paramount over any provincial privacy legislation.”

He noted that when he asked whether unvaccinated jurors should be excused from serving, neither the Crown nor the defendants took a position.

In the Quebec case, Judge Mario Longpre noted that the provincial jury law only allows people with disabilities or mental impairments to be exempt.

Longpre wrote that Quebec law, unlike Ontario’s, does not allow jurors to be disqualified for physical disability “even if it is concluded that failure to be adequately vaccinated constitutes such disability.”