A mental health charity has launched a campaign to make people with mental health problems eligible for jury service, with the support of the Criminal Bar Association.

Charity Rethink said the UK is one of only two jurisdictions in the English-speaking world that excludes people who have recovered from a mental illness from serving on juries.

It claims 750 people a month are disqualified from UK jury service on mental health grounds. These include people who have recovered from mental illness but still ‘regularly attend for treatment by a medical practitioner’.

Other English-speaking jurisdictions, with the exception of Quebec, in Canada, only exclude people who do not have the capacity to sit on a jury, irrespective of whether they require continued medical support, the charity says.

The campaign, which will lobby the government to change the criteria for jury eligibility, is also supported by broadcaster Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder.

Richard Charlton, chairman of the Mental Health Lawyers Association, said a disproportionate number of people with mental health problems appeared before juries.

‘If juries are to reflect a cross-section of society, then people with a mental health history should sit on them. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 defines capacity. Let’s use it.’

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said it was ‘keeping under review’ the possibility of using the Mental Capacity Act as a guide to a juror’s ­suitability.