First woman on a jury

First woman on a jury

This is an extract from the report of New Zealand’s first court case with a woman, a Miss Kingsford, on the jury. Until 1942, women were denied the right to sit on juries, and even then, their service remained voluntary. In 1959 there was a vigorous campaign to put women on the same footing as men regarding jury service. The right of women to claim automatic exemption when called for jury service was eventually cancelled in 1976. Jury service for men and women then became completely equal.