jury service but court is 26 miles away, dont drive

CKhalvashi

Funnily enough, I've had the letter today.......

teddysmum

When my husband did jury service (only 3 miles from home) he had to attend every day except, the last few as he was picked for a short case at the beginning of the second week.


The compensation was nearly his take home pay, but for that he virtually had a holiday, as he was free by about 10am.

Reggie_Rebel

Write to them saying thanks for the offer but it's not convenient for you at this time.

Then say you'll let them know when it is convenient and look forward to finding the defendant guilty.

They'll mark you down as a loon and never bother you again

clairec79

I deferred when I was called several years ago. I deferred as I would have been about 38 weeks pregnant, gave details of my due date and the date I would be on maternity leave from and too - ended up doing it about a month after I went back to work

Slinky

My SIL is on call for jury service at the moment. She's been given a juror number and has to telephone each afternoon and listen to a recorded list of numbers, if her number's up, she has to attend the following day. I've never heard of this system before. She deferred once as she looks after a relative's child one day a week, but was called again pretty quickly.

Peter333

Yes definitely defer. You may well not be asked again for 30 years!

System

I think given the travel and childcare problems its worth asking if you can defer

I'd hate to be called for jury duty, i mean if it was nothing "serious"( serious being murder or rape or something) i might be able to cope but mentally i think i'd fall to bits if i had to try and deal with a serious case (which is partly why i can't understand why they removed the exemption for if you're mentally ill-i mean i do understand it was for equality but personally i think my MH problems would affect my judgement, especially if i was unwell at the time)

baza52

Just finished Jury service 2 weeks ago.
This was the 4th time I have done it and deferred once.
I deferred 10 years ago and was just re called.

If you take another Juror with you in a car you can claim just over 3p extra per mile for each Juror you take.

The reason you might not be called to serve at your local court is because you might know or be known by someone on trial.

Even when your on dury service if you need to do something on a certain day (hospital apt, kids nativity etc) then you can send a note to the judge if your selected to sit on a case covering the day they will either pick another Juror or adjourn for the day.

Actually enjoyed doing it and would do it again if asked.

Richard53

For all its faults, we have one of the best justice systems in the world. If you are accused of a crime, you are guaranteed to have 12 ordinary citizens just like you deciding whether you are guilty or not - not the police, not a party member, not a member of the aristocracy, not the editor of a newspaper. It's the best guarantee we have that our justice system is fair and free of corruption. The price we pay for this is that we occasionally have to do jury service - the other side of the coin, if you like. It can be inconvenient and occasionally distressing, but it isn't, and shouldn't be, optional. The courts can hear your request for deferment, and if it is reasonable they can defer you for a while, maybe a long while. But they can't be too lenient or understanding, or everyone would say they had transport problems or pressing issues that they just couldn't avoid, and we would have no jurors.


I did it once, it was fascinating, and like baza52 I would do it again if they wanted me to.

jackieblack

Richard53 wrote: »

For all its faults, we have one of the best justice systems in the world. If you are accused of a crime, you are guaranteed to have 12 ordinary citizens just like you deciding whether you are guilty or not - not the police, not a party member, not a member of the aristocracy, not the editor of a newspaper. It's the best guarantee we have that our justice system is fair and free of corruption. The price we pay for this is that we occasionally have to do jury service - the other side of the coin, if you like. It can be inconvenient and occasionally distressing, but it isn't, and shouldn't be, optional. The courts can hear your request for deferment, and if it is reasonable they can defer you for a while, maybe a long while. But they can't be too lenient or understanding, or everyone would say they had transport problems or pressing issues that they just couldn't avoid, and we would have no jurors.

I did it once, it was fascinating, and like baza52 I would do it again if they wanted me to.

I agree with everything you've said except the bit in bold.
Any of these people are equally as eligible to be called for Jury Service as you or I.