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. 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. References ViTWA/The King Baudouin Foundation, (2005). Participatory methods Toolkit: A practitioners’ manual. Veasey, K. (2002). Citizens Jury Handbook, updated and revised version. Provided by the Jefferson Center. 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. Katherine Ng, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster Poster edited by Luis Aparicio and Delphine Ducoulombier 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. 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. DBT citizens Jury on new GM plants, 2005