Inclusive Juries – Access for People Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind or Have Low Vision

Castan Centre colleagues have been cited extensively in the Victorian Law Reform Commission Inclusive Juries report.

17 May 2023

On 16 May 2023, the report of the Victorian Law Reform Commission on inclusive juries was tabled in the Victorian Parliament. You can read the report, Inclusive Juries – Access for People Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind or Have Low Vision below.

The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law made a submission to the VLRC’s inquiry. Our submission was extensively referenced by the Commission. Referencing the Castan Centre’s submission VLRC wrote:

The Castan Centre for Human Rights Law (Castan Centre) identified that the  ‘issue of inclusive juries goes to the heart of what [the CRPD] stands for, including the fundamental values of equality, dignity and liberty’. Many responses to the consultation paper called for reform so that our laws comply with international legal standards.

Having ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Australia is obliged to ensure that disabled citizens enjoy and exercise the same rights as every other citizen. This includes ensuring that disabled citizens can participate fully in all aspects of public life. By failing to provide adjustments to deaf and blind Australians to participate as jurors, Australia has violated the human rights of those excluded jurors and more broadly, its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Castan Centre highlighted that the UN cases ‘illustrate that the state of Victoria has obligations under international human rights law to enable the meaningful inclusion and participation of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing’. It further identified that those decisions ‘provide tangible examples of what needs to change in order to comply with international human rights law, namely, change to law and practices that create barriers to participation and consultation with people with disabilities to guide reform’.

You can read a copy of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law submission below.