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Amend
section 10 of the Juries Act 1974 to provide that in certain
cases all |
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members of a jury be bilingual
in Welsh and English; and for connected |
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and |
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consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
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Parliament assembled,
and by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
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1 |
Amendment
of the Juries Act 1974 |
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(1) |
The Juries Act 1974 (c.
23) is amended as follows. |
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(2) |
In section 10, after “English”
insert “or in Wales, where a party, witness or other |
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person may use Welsh in
the course of the hearing, insufficient understanding |
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5 |
(3) |
At the end of section 10,
add— |
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“(2) |
For the purposes of assessing
the sufficiency of a person’s |
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understanding
of Welsh, it shall be sufficient that the person has made |
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an
assertion of his ability to speak Welsh in the annual return
made to |
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the
local authority of the place in which he resides. |
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10 |
(3) |
It shall be a duty of
electoral registration officers of local authorities in |
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Wales
to send to such persons as the Lord Chancellor may by order
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designate
copies of the electoral register for their area indicating those
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persons
within the age limits of jury service able to speak Welsh, and
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the
register shall be sufficient evidence of a person’s ability
to |
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15 |
understand
Welsh for the purposes of subsection (1). |
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(4) |
An order made by statutory
instrument under subsection (3) shall be |
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subject
to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of
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2 |
Short
title, commencement and extent |
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20 |
(1) |
This Act may be cited as
the Bilingual Juries (Wales) Act. |
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(2) |
The preceding provisions
of this Act shall come into force at the end of the |
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period of 12 months beginning
with the day on which this Act is passed. |
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