jury service but court is 26 miles away, dont drive

mumof3mk

hiya all,

recieved to do a jury summons for febuary for a court 26 miles away, but there is a crown court about 4 miles away, can i as if i can do jury service at the court nearer to me.

I dont drive, and to be in court for 9am which is stated on the letter, means trying to get 2 buses and then walking from bus station earlier in the morning, miles away . to get there in time, my first bus will be at 6.23AM.


train fares are coming up at £40.60 a day, mega money, yes i know they re-emburse you, but thats still alot of money to find for a minumum of 2 weeks.

my husband works strange hours and only knows his works shift patterns about 2 weeks in advance if hes lucky ( nhs 111)

I have 2 children of 9 and 15, and need someone to be at the house until 9 yr old gets his lift to school ( a sschool mum over the road takes him, as i suffer from back problems) and cant walk far.
My 15 yr old leaves the house at 7.30 for school.

what do i do,
any advice please.

ALI1973

I think you can defer jury duty once, and detail other dates when you would be unavailable.

"3. Delaying or being excused from jury service
You may be able to delay (‘defer’) jury service, eg if you:

have a holiday booked
are having an operation
You can only defer jury service once.

If you defer you must say when you will be available for jury service over the next 12 months.

You may need to prove you have a genuine reason if you say you won’t be available at any time during this period, eg a letter from your doctor."

Oh, and if you contact them, they may agree to pay for a taxi.

If it helps, I only attended one day, and wasn't chosen to be placed on an actual Jury, so that was it, my service was over.

lesleyb

I deferred once due to child care issues and didn't get called again for 30 years lol :rotfl:. It is worth contacting them to explain your problems.

Hedgehog99

Might be worth just using public transport for the first day and then see if you can get a lift with another juror the rest of the time - when I did jury service (must be about 15 years ago though!) they actively encouraged car-sharing and the driver got an extra allowance for their passenger(s).

We had to travel to another court in another city even though we have a court here - just depends how they distribute jurors and trials.

Hope you find it interesting once you get the practicalities sorted out.

74jax

I would just ask to be deferred. I did this when DD was about 6. Never been called up again.

Armchair23

I had to defer jury service twice as I was a carer.
Just get in touch and let them know your circumstances, no need to get worried just communicate.

SailorSam

Yes you can defer, and although they expect you to choose the cheapest way to travel, ie buses. If the circumstances were that there wasn't a bus, or perhaps you had a medical problem that made bus travel difficult. They would pay for a taxi. Best to get in touch as soon as you can to tell them it's difficult for you. It mustbe a common problem when so many people live away from good transport links.

Georgiegirl256

When I went, I took the train the first day, then for the rest of the time one of the other jurors took a few of us there and back in his car.

CKhalvashi

I had to defer as I was working on a foreign contract for the 2 weeks (contracts were signed for it 4 months before I was called)

This was about 4 years ago, and not been called since.

TBagpuss

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I would ask if you can be given the court near you. If not, then defer.

Oh what a blasted nuisance this is! Obviously whoever is picking people, is someone who has no responsibilities (like kiddies/school run/looking after house and home,) and they can drive!

People are picked at random using the electoral register. why would you imagine it is any less inconvenient for people who are working? by that argument juries would be made up entirely of unemployed childless people and pensioners, and would exclude anyone who couldn't drive or afford a car, so you exclude poorer people.

I can drive, but it would be hugely inconvenient, as we only have one car, and DH needs it for work half the time, so me having it for jury service 25 miles away would not be an option. And like you, it would take up 5 hours of my day just to get there and back if I went by public transport!

How ridiculous. You should just be able to say no.

But I would defer if I were you. My friend did about 7 years ago (she had 3 little 'uns under 11, and couldn't drive, and 2 kiddies were not at school yet!) Can they not check these things?!

How do you suggest that 'they' check these things? In any event,
the point of a jury is that it reflects society - if you were to exclude everyone with small children or caring responsibilities you are excluding a huge swathe of society.

Anyhoo, my friend, whose kiddies are all over 9 now, has still not been asked back! If you do defer, you may never be asked back!

The train fare is a LOT for just 26 miles BTW! Cities and large towns that are 20-30 miles away from us, only cost about £10 for the train fare.

Still, whatever, it's very inconvenient, so defer if you can.

If you defer, you go back into the general 'pot' of candidates - you are no more likely to be selected again than anyone else.


OP, you can ask to be excused on the basis of the travel difficulties, childcare responsibilities etc. I would suggest that you set out which buses you would have to catch and the time it would take, and the issues it would create in relation to your children. You could explain about the other court and your willingness to go there (are you sure it is a Crown Court? You don't have juries at the Magistrates or County Court)You could also ask them about getting a taxi rather than public transport, if that would mean you could serve, as there is some limited discretion to allow that .

Jurors can claim for giving another juror a lift so if there are other jurors from your town that might be an option after the first day.

You may not have to do the full 2 weeks. When my sister was called she only had to do 3 days.

Person_one

Lily-Rose wrote: »

How ridiculous. You should just be able to say no.

What do you think would happen if you could just 'say no'?