What does empanelling mean?
Empanelling is the process of selecting and formally enrolling people—most commonly jurors—to serve on a jury, making it one of the essential first steps of any trial by jury. Derived from the verb 'empanel', which combines the prefix 'em-' with 'panel', it literally means to place names onto a panel or list. In practice, the term describes the courtroom procedure by which prospective jurors are called, questioned during voir dire, and ultimately sworn in as members of a trial jury. Historically, the word reaches further back into English legal tradition, when panels of local men were assembled to give sworn testimony before judges. Though chiefly a technical term of law, empanelling carries connotations of civic duty and fairness, since the impartial composition of a jury is fundamental to a fair trial. The spelling with double 'l' is British; American usage prefers 'impaneling'.
The procedure or act of selecting and enrolling a jury from a group of prospective jurors.
"Empanelling took most of the first day of the trial."
Used mainly in British legal writing; American texts favor 'impaneling'.
Present participle of 'empanel': to enroll or select persons, especially jurors, for service.
"The court officers were busy empanelling jurors when the press arrived."
Every criminal trial begins with this one word: empanelling is how twelve strangers become a jury.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of empanelling
Empanelling derives from the verb 'empanel', formed in Middle French-influenced English from the prefix 'en-/em-' plus 'panel', meaning a piece of parchment listing names. The underlying 'panel' traces back through Old French to Latin 'pellus' or related to 'pallium', a cloth, via the notion of a counted roll or list written on parchment. The word entered English legal usage in the late medieval period, when juries were first regularly drawn up from lists of local freemen. Its cognates include the ordinary word 'panel' itself, which shares the same origin in the sense of a listed roster.
Related word forms
How empanelling is actually used
Chiefly legal and formal in register; almost exclusively used in courtroom and procedural contexts today. The spelling with double 'l' is standard in British English, while American English typically uses the single-l forms 'impanel'/'impaneling'.
Easily confused with empanelling
'Impanel' is simply the American spelling of 'empanel', which is standard in British English; both mean to enroll on a jury list, with no difference in meaning.