Chapter 4 Peremptory Challenges

• Library: Picking a Civil Jury: A Guide for Illinois Trial Lawyers (2015 Ed.)

CHAPTER 4 - PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES

"Each side shall be entitled to 5 peremptory challenges. If there is more than one party on any side, the court may allow each side additional peremptory challenges, not to exceed 3, on account of each additional party on the side having the greatest number of parties. Each side shall be allowed an equal number of peremptory challenges. If the parties on a side are unable to agree upon the allocation of peremptory challenges among themselves, the allocation shall be determined by the court." 735 ILCS 5/2-1106(a).

A party does not have a right to select or "pick" a jury. Instead, by challenging jurors, the parties pick who will not serve on the jury. One type of challenge to a juror is a "peremptory challenge." A peremptory challenge is "a challenge to a juror for which no reason need be given or cause assigned."¹ The right to peremptory challenges is a creation of statute and allows a litigant to exclude a limited number of jurors who may otherwise be qualified to serve on the petit jury.²

In using peremptory challenges, attorneys utilize numerically limited rights to exclude certain jurors from serving on the panel of jurors.³ Because the peremptory challenge is a creation of statute, the scope of the right to assert...