Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Legislation has completed its review of Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Jury Act. The committee held public hearings on this bill on Wednesday, April 5, 1995, and on Monday, April 10, 1995, in Yellowknife. The Honourable Stephen Kakfwi, Minister of Justice, appeared to present the bill at the hearing.

During the hearings, the committee indicated general support for most of the changes proposed to the Jury Act in Bill 26. However, the committee was unanimous in its non-support of two proposed amendments. The first dealt with changing the requirement for service of a jury summons, if not in person, to be by certified mail. Certified mail is not an option in the Northwest Territories, and the amendment proposed that service should alternatively be by regular mail. The second amendment not supported by the committee was the proposed increase in the penalty for failure to obey a jury summons from a maximum of $200 to $500.

The committee felt that such an increase would be unfair. It was felt that the combined effect of these two amendments, particularly in small communities where mail service may be unreliable or sporadic, and the subsistence lifestyle which often has residents out on the land for weeks at a time, would place an unnecessary burden on people. In addition, the cost savings envisaged did not seem to justify such measures.

As a result, the committee passed two motions to amend the bill in these two areas. Clause 7 of Bill 26 was amended to stipulate that a summons would be served in person or by registered mail so as to provide an accountability record of receipt. Secondly, clause 9 was amended to do three things: 1) to provide that failure to obey a jury summons is deemed to be an offence liable on summary conviction to a fine; 2) to keep the fine at its present level of not less than $25 and not exceeding $200; and 3) to provide that a person would only be guilty of failure to obey a summons if they had acknowledged that they had received a summons by mail or they had been served in person.

The Standing Committee on Legislation would like to take this opportunity to make a further comment with respect to the Jury Act, Mr. Chairman. In the discussions on Bill 26, committee Members noted that there may be other ways in which the Jury Act could be improved.

The area of concern deals with the selection of the jury panel from the jury list and the procedures by which a panellist can request an exemption. The committee noted that moving the bulk of these procedures into regulation provides an excellent opportunity for the government to review and improve them.

Specifically, it was noted that the list of statutory exemptions from jury service and a description of the process for application to be excused from service should be included in the summons documentation. If this information were provided in the appropriate language, then much of the apprehension surrounding this process, particularly in remote communities, could be eliminated.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Legislation on Bill 26, An Act to Amend the Jury Act. On Monday, April 10, 1995, the committee passed a motion that Bill 26 was ready for consideration in committee of the whole, as amended and reprinted.

That's our report, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.