The president of the Clare Law Association yesterday called for an overhaul in legislation dealing with jury service in criminal trials.
Mr Gerry Flynn said the current fine of €63 for people who did not show on jury panels was "absurd". He suggested that people who served on juries should be compensated by the State.
Mr Flynn made his comments yesterday after only 120 people out of 400 showed up for jury service at the current sittings of Ennis Circuit Court.
Mr Flynn said at the current sittings, there were 100 no-shows; 110 wrote to the County Registrar looking to be excused for various reasons and the remainder could not serve because they serve in the Garda Síochána, nursing profession and other walks of life.
A new jury panel is due to attend Ennis Circuit Court today. A second panel will be needed for the first ever sitting of the Central Criminal Court that is due to sit in Ennis at the end of November to try a murder case.
If the trend continued, the court would be left with an insufficient panel for a jury, said Mr Flynn. "There is a lot of criticism of the criminal justice system today and the citizen's only contact with the system is to appear on a jury. But the numbers not showing for jury service suggest that the knee-jerk response is 'how do I get out of this?'."
Mr Flynn said the current fine of €63 for non-attendance "is absurd and totally inadequate". He said it should be increased.
"We are lucky enough to live in a democracy that has a jury service. It is an extremely important cog in the justice system and it is disappointing that people are failing in their civic duty to attend," he added.
Mr Flynn said the staging of a murder trial at Ennis Courthouse at the end of next month would be " a historic event in Clare".
