Juries (Age of Excusal) Amendment Bill
Right now, New Zealanders aged 65 or over can ask to be let off jury duty, and the court must say yes. This bill raises that age from 65 to 72. That means people aged 65 to 71 would no longer have an automatic right to skip jury duty — they could still be required to serve unless they have another reason to be excused. People who already received a jury summons before the new law starts would still be covered by the old rules.
What this affects
Tap a topic to see how this bill touches it, and the parts of the text that show it.
People aged 65 to 71 will no longer be able to automatically get out of jury duty — they could be required to serve unless they have a different reason to be excused.
In section 15(2)(aa), replace '65 years' with '72 years'.
In section 15A(2), replace '65 years' with '72 years'.
The amendments to sections 15 and 15A of this Act by the Juries (Age of Excusal) Amendment Act 2025 do not apply to a person in respect of a summons issued to that person before the commencement date.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Justice Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 21 May 2025.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.