Citizens Jury

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Citizens Jury
Definition A Citizens Jury is a method of
obtaining informed citizen input into policy
decisions. 12 to 24 randomly selected citizens
make up a Citizens Jury, so-called due to expert
witnesses presenting information or advocating
positions to the jury who question them. A
Citizens Jury challenges decision-makers and
holds them to account by engaging directly in the
policy-making process.
Procedure Juror recruitment A random sample
of potential jurors establishes the credibility
of a project. Recruitment may be done by a
telephone directory, electoral register, internet
listing or a random list could be bought from a
company for example. The next stage is for an
introductory letter and a questionnaire for
demographic data to be sent to potential
participants, which will grab their interest and
inform the reader about the time commitment that
is required, and also if any payment is offered.
Jurors are then selected on the basis of the
balance of the demographic variables that were
identified.
Rationale Unlike a Consensus Conference or a
public enquiry, the Citizens Jury method is
suitable when one or more alternatives to a
problem need to be selected - and the various
interests arbitrated by citizens. The Citizens
Jury method is an intensive process that lends
itself to produce rich results, although compared
with other citizen-based participatory methods,
it is an expensive and lengthy process (with the
exception being a Consensus Conference, which is
more so). It can cost from 20,000 euros
approximately.
DBT citizens Jury on new GM plants, 2005
The hearings The jury follow a process of
deliberation with witnesses on the selected
issue, during 4 to 6 days of hearings over the
course of approximately six months. The output
is a citizens report of recommendations, which
is delivered to relevant bodies for example,
government departments and local authorities, who
are then required to act upon it or disagree.
Participants An Advisory Committee reflecting a
broad range of knowledge and expertise about the
issues involved. The Working Group. Up to 5
people who are closely involved in the planning
stages of the project. Moderators assist
citizens to achieve clear decisions and
recommendations, and to enable fair and focused
participation amongst the jurors and the expert
witnesses. The Jury is designed to be a
microcosm of the population covered by the
project, so the relevant population must be
clearly defined, and this is preceded by deciding
upon which specific demographic variables to base
the jury selection, such as age, education,
gender, geographical location and ethnicity.
Tips potential pitfalls It is useful to
structure your Citizens Jury to link to
policy-making process so real action can take
place instead of the jury simply becoming a
talking shop. Follow-up work such as an
evaluation and targeted media dissemination are
opportunities to achieve action.
References ViTWA/The King Baudouin Foundation,
(2005). Participatory methods Toolkit A
practitioners manual. www.kbs-frb.be www.citize
nsjury.org Veasey, K. (2002). Citizens Jury
Handbook, updated and revised version. Provided
by the Jefferson Center.
Katherine Ng, Centre for the Study of Democracy,
University of Westminster Poster edited by Luis
Aparicio and Delphine Ducoulombier