Key takeaways
- You must respond to a jury summons, and the Ministry of Justice asks you to do it as soon as you can. Simply not turning up risks a fine of up to $1,000.
- Being busy is not a reason to be excused, it is a reason to defer. Everyone gets one deferral per summons, to a four-week block you choose between 8 weeks and a year away.
- You can be excused as of right if you are 72 or over. That age rose from 65 on 21 February 2026, and many guides still show the old number.
- The pay is $31 per half day for the first five days, rising to $40 from day six, plus 38 cents a kilometre travel and help with childcare costs.
- Your employer must let you go, cannot punish or dismiss you for serving, with a fine of up to $10,000, and cannot force you to take annual leave, but does not have to pay your wages unless your employment agreement says so.
In this guide
Around 130,000 New Zealanders are summoned for jury service every year, drawn by ballot from the electoral roll, and almost all of them have the same three questions. Do I have to go, how do I get out of it, and what does it pay. This guide answers all three under the rules as they stand in July 2026, including the excusal age change from earlier this year that most other guides have not caught up with.
The summons and what it means
A jury summons means your name came up in a ballot of people on the electoral roll living within your jury district, which broadly covers everyone within 45 kilometres of the courthouse by the most practicable route. If you live further out, you will never be summoned, which is why some rural New Zealanders go a lifetime without one.
The summons tells you where and when to attend and how to respond, online or by returning the form. The Ministry of Justice asks you to respond as soon as you can, and responding is where you raise a deferral or excusal. If anything is unclear, the jury service line is 0800 268 787.
Who can never serve
Some people are disqualified by criminal history. Under the Juries Act 1981 you cannot serve if you have ever been sentenced to imprisonment for life, to three years or more, or to preventive detention, or if within the last five years you were sentenced to imprisonment or home detention of three months or more. These rules turn on the sentence you actually received, and if you are not sure what is on your record, our Clean Slate guide explains how to check it free.
Others are excluded by their role, judges and Community Magistrates, members of Parliament and the Executive Council, the Governor-General, lawyers, police employees, Ministry of Justice and Corrections staff, Parole Board members, and people working in or contracted to prisons. The theory is simple, the justice system should not judge itself, and Parliament should not sit in its own courts.
Being excused
Four grounds entitle you to be excused just by asking, no discretion involved:
- you are aged 72 or over
- you are a member of a religious sect or order that holds jury service to be incompatible with its tenets
- you served on a jury, or attended for service, within the last two years
- you hold an unexpired excusal from a previous summons.
The age threshold is new. It rose from 65 to 72 on 21 February 2026 under the Juries (Age of Excusal) Amendment Act 2026, a member’s bill from Whanganui MP Carl Bates, and it applies both to being excused for a particular summons and to asking for permanent excusal. If you are between 65 and 71 and were counting on the old rule, you now need a reason like anyone else, and many websites still showing 65 are out of date.
Beyond the as-of-right grounds, the registrar, the court official who manages jury service, can excuse you for good reason, serious health problems, disability, caregiving that nobody else can cover, or hardship. Expect to provide something in support, a medical certificate or a letter about your circumstances. A judge can also cancel a summons where disability or difficulty understanding English would make serving impractical. And if your concern is that you know the defendant, a witness or the case, you do not need an excusal in advance, tell the court staff when you arrive and it is dealt with there.
Deferring to a better time
Here is the strategic advice buried in the fine print, if your problem is timing, exams, harvest, a project deadline, a booked holiday, do not ask to be excused, ask to defer. Deferral is the easy yes. The registrar can move your service once per summons to a four-week block you nominate, starting at least 8 weeks after your original date and within a year of it.
You do need a ground, the law asks whether attending now would cause undue hardship or serious inconvenience through your work or business, health, disability, difficulty with English, family commitments or personal circumstances, but in practice a clear sentence or two about why now is bad and when is better, plus an employer letter if work is the issue, is what the registrar wants to see. Deferral also protects you later, if you serve or attend, you are entitled to be excused as of right from any new summons for the next two years.
What actually happens at court
On your first morning you join the jury panel, the pool of everyone summoned that week. For each trial, names are drawn by ballot. If yours is drawn you walk to the jury box, and either side can challenge you without giving a reason as you do, the lawyers each get four of these, and the Crown gets eight when two or more defendants are tried together. Being challenged is not about you, it happens in most trials, and you simply return to the panel.
If you are not selected for a trial, you stay on call for the rest of the week, sometimes attending, sometimes phoning in each evening to hear whether you are needed. If you are selected, you serve until the trial ends, and a trial that runs past the week does not release you, you stay until the verdict.
Pay, expenses and your job
Jury pay will not replace a wage. The standard rate is $31 for each half day for your first five days, rising to $40 per half day from day six:
| Sitting | Days 1 to 5 | Day 6 onward |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, per half day | $31 | $40 |
| Evening sitting to 9pm, per day | $89 | $114 |
| Sitting past 9pm, per day | $127 | $163 |
On top of the fees, you can claim 38 cents a kilometre for driving or your actual public transport costs, and childcare help of up to $80 a day per child for professional care or $40 for informal care. Expenses are paid within about two weeks of your claim form, and the details are on the Ministry of Justice payment page.
On the job side, three rules matter. Your employer must let you attend, and dismissing you, threatening to, or otherwise disadvantaging you because of jury service is an offence with a fine of up to $10,000. Your employer does not have to pay your wages while you serve unless your employment agreement says so, some do, many do not, so ask early. And Employment New Zealand is clear you cannot be forced to use annual leave for it. Our guide to leave entitlements covers the wider rules.
If you ignore the summons
Failing to attend without being excused is an offence with a fine of up to $1,000, though the court must give you a chance to explain first, and a warrant to bring you to court is possible in stubborn cases. In practice, courts overwhelmingly prefer engagement to punishment, if your circumstances are genuinely difficult, a phone call to 0800 268 787 and a deferral request solves the problem the fine exists to police. Ignoring the envelope is the one move with no upside.
Common questions
How do I get out of jury duty in NZ
Defer it if the problem is timing, that is one request, granted once per summons, for a four-week block up to a year away. Seek excusal if you can never serve, you are 72 or over, your religious order forbids it, you served in the last two years, or health, disability or caregiving makes it genuinely impractical. There is no trick, but there is also rarely a need for one, the legitimate routes cover almost every real situation.
How much do you get paid for jury duty in NZ
$31 per half day for the first five days and $40 per half day from day six, with higher daily rates for evening sittings, plus 38 cents a kilometre travel and childcare reimbursement. It is a fee for service, not a wage, and it is not taxed, juror fees are exempt income.
Does my employer have to pay me during jury service
Only if your employment agreement says so. What the law does require is that your employer releases you and does not punish you for serving, with a fine of up to $10,000 for dismissing or threatening you over it, and they cannot make you take annual leave.
What if I have children to look after
Childcare costs are reimbursable, up to $80 a day per child for professional care and $40 for informal arrangements. If care genuinely cannot be arranged, that is a proper ground to put to the registrar for deferral or excusal, with a short explanation of your circumstances.
What happens if the trial runs longer than expected
You stay until it ends, that is the commitment you make when you are sworn in. The fee rate rises from day six, and if a long trial creates real hardship, tell the judge through the court staff, judges deal with juror difficulties during trials all the time.
Can I be excused because of my beliefs
The as-of-right ground is specific, membership of a religious sect or order whose tenets are incompatible with jury service. General moral discomfort does not qualify by right, though you can still put your circumstances to the registrar, and concerns about a particular case are handled at court.
Where to get free help
- Jury service line, 0800 268 787, for deferrals, excusals and anything on your summons.
- Ministry of Justice, justice.govt.nz/courts/jury-service, the official guidance and claim forms.
- Employment New Zealand, employment.govt.nz, if your employer resists or threatens.
- Citizens Advice Bureau, cab.org.nz, plain-English help responding to a summons.
Have you served on a jury, or wrestled with the deferral process? What surprised you? Share your experience in the comments.
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