A policy jury or citizen jury is a body of people convened to render a decision or advice on a matter of public policy. It is similar to juries used in modern court trial except that the subject of its deliberation is a matter of public policy, rather than law. The concept of the policy jury is closely connected with deliberative democracy or participatory models of democratic governance, and is similar to a deliberative opinion poll.
In some cases, policy juries are composed of randomly selected members of a given population. Citizens participating in a policy jury engage in a comprehensive learning and deliberation processes before settling on a conclusion or set of recommendations.
Policy juries have been used in Canada. Citizens’ Assemblies on Electoral Reform convened in British Columbia in 2004 and Ontario in 2006 used policy juries to address alternative electoral systems. Three of Ontario’s Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) have referred their Integrated Health Service Plans (IHSP) for 2010-2013 to policy juries for advice and refinement. LHINs referring their IHSPs to policy juries include the South East LHIN, Central LHIN and Mississauga Halton LHIN.