Jury panel is the entire group of people selected and assigned to panels to perform a jury duty in a judicial proceeding. Each person in the jury panel are prospective jurors. Every prospective juror in the panel will be briefed by the judges and challenged by lawyers who are provided with a jury list containing each prospective juror’s name, address and occupation. A juror can be excused from the panel if the lawyer shows that the juror cannot act impartially. Each side can also excuse a limited number of jurors from the panel without giving any reasons.
Generally, eight jurors are seated in a jury panel in civil cases, with six selected to deliberate and two serving as alternates. A greater number of jurors are assigned to a jury panel in criminal cases because a trial jury in criminal cases usually have 12 people.
A jury panel is supposed to be racially diverse and representative of different communities.
[Last updated in July of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]