Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Juries Act 2000 - SECT 47

Failure to reach unanimous verdict in civil trials

47. Failure to reach unanimous verdict in civil trials



(1) In this section, majority verdict means-

   (a)  if, at the time of returning its verdict, the jury consists of 6
        jurors-a verdict on which 5 of them agree;

   (b)  if, at the time of returning its verdict, the jury consists of 5
        jurors-a verdict on which 4 of them agree.

(2) If the jury in a civil trial has not reached a unanimous verdict after at
least 3 hours deliberation, the court may, subject to subsection (3), take a
majority verdict as the verdict of the jury.

(2A) If, after deliberating for at least 6 hours, the jury in a civil trial is
unable to agree on a majority verdict, the judge may discharge the jury.

(3) A court must refuse to take a majority verdict if it considers that the
jury has not had a period of time for deliberation that the court thinks
reasonable, having regard to the nature and complexity of the trial.