Does the South Australian plan meet the BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR CITIZENS’ JURY ?

BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR CITIZENS’ JURY

Assurance that the participants are randomly selected from as wide a range as possible.
Honorarium payment, crèche facilities, and easy-access jury locations, etc, every effort made not to exclude any person because of their situation.
The selection of a truly neutral Advisory body, with equal representation from pro and anti nuclear witnesses.
Moderators for the hearings also selected to be neutral.
Questions well selected so as not to influence the response (this was one of the major failings of the Royal Commission)
Complete video and audio of the hearings available to the public, (though not the private discussions of the participants)

The jury of citizens, usually consisting of 15–24 individuals, serves as a microcosm of the public.

The public availability of complete audio or video recordings of all jury hearings, (though not of “jury room” deliberations if participants would prefer privacy) is an important aid to transparency. Multiple sources of funding help to ensure that the jury’s organisers are not seen as having a financial interest in producing a verdict that supports the interests of a single funding body. To maximise the scrutiny they provide, the two or more funders should have somewhat opposing interests regarding the subject likely to be under discussion.

The moment in a citizens jury that is most important for its participants is the point at which they deliver their recommendations to those in power. A jury in which jurors are not only allowed to present their conclusions themselves at a press conference, but also undertake work towards ensuring that some of their conclusions are implemented, is a far more empowering process than one in which their verdict is merely extracted by researchers and written up without further input from the jurors. http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU37.html

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PROCESS run by Sydney’s New Democracy –contact

Iain Walker <iain.walker@newdemocracy.com.au

but sub-contracted out to South Australia’s DemocracyCo

– CEOs are Emma Lawson and Emily Jenke.

Principal Advisor is Ilka Walkley

CONTACTS:

emma@democracyco.com.au

0421 098 355

emily@democracyco.com.au

0427 834 062

Ilka Walkley

ilka@democracyco.com.au