Been selected for jury service, (!!!!!!!!)

baza52

Gavin83 wrote: »

I totally agree. However I think being £20k out of pocket (as per my example) is a valid reason but unless I'm mistaken the courts don't accept this excuse.

you said you know contractors that earn 1k per day then said 2 weeks would cost them 20k
Cant you do simple maths Gav lol

"I'll give you a more real world situation. I know self employed private contractors who earn £1k a day. If they're away for 2 weeks that's £20k less the tiny contribution they'll be out of pocket by"

Gavin83

baza52 wrote: »

you said you know contractors that earn 1k per day then said 2 weeks would cost them 20k
Cant you do simple maths Gav lol

Clearly not! £10k it is.

Hedgehog99

I strongly believe it it a citizen's duty to do jury service if called.

It is important that a random selection of society measures what is and is not acceptable.

I have served two separate fortnights on a total of three cases. For two of the cases, we had to decide whether the defendant did the crime or not, but for the third case, the defendant admitted that he did it, but we had to decide whether it was OK that he did it - it is that sort of case where it is particularly important to have a jury randomly selected because it is a measure of society's standards and ethics.

Both times, my employer paid my salary as normal throughout and required me to attend work on days/part days not needed at court, so I wasn't out of pocket.

My employer then brought in new rules about payment in arrears which would have meant waiting a month to get paid - that would have caused me financial hardship.

It should be possible to enable people to fulfil their jury duty without incurring financial problems - something should be done about that.

Overall it was a fascinating process from jurors first meeting to the induction, being selected for a case and not being able to discuss it with anyone outside the jury room, being sworn it, the cases for prosecution & defence, the judge's summing up, the way the jury selects its foreman and the way the discussions go. There were some shocking things and hilarious things too.

I'm disgusted with some of the stories the media reports these days about lazy jurors not putting effort in and use of social media / internet to research the case (forbidden) - total disrespect for our right to trial by jury, and a waste of everyone else's time and money.

As for thinking you can get rejected based on your clothing, you don't know what the defendant is accused of, so wearing a suit for a fraudster or a marijuana leaf T-shirt for a drug-smuggler probably won't get you the result you were hoping for!

Just think about some people in other countries - either no jury trials at all or worse duties such as being called to witness an execution.

Tigsteroonie

Mid-forties here and never been called. I'm envious, I'd love the chance to serve.

London50

Gavin83 wrote: »

This is a different situation. The person in that story attended a trial and then failed to turn up on the last day. This could potentially require the trial to be reheard at huge expense and effort. I'm not at all surprised he was jailed for this.

However not turning up at all doesn't disrupt a trial. There are plenty of other people to pick from. If you can show me where anyone has been jailed or even given a criminal record for not showing up at all then I'm all ears.





Ok I'll ask the both of you this. How much would you be willing to lose before you decided the money was more important and you wouldn't attend? Would you be willing to lose your house and your job to sit on a jury? This is a possibility for someone who is self employed or someone who's employer won't pay their wages.

Long trials aren't unheard of either. One of my colleagues was off on jury service for 6 weeks.

Personally I'd go but I work for a company who would continue to pay my salary. In fact I think I'd actually quite enjoy it. However if I was self employed I wouldn't bother. I wouldn't affect my life just to uphold my public duty.

While he may not have been jailed for it {as far as I know} I stated it could be charged with contempt of court. See below


http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8837489.Sussex_farmer_ordered_to_do_jury_service/

theoretica

On one hand, I agree being majorly out of pocket for jury duty is a bad thing - on the other hand a situation where one member of the jury is being reimbursed £1k a day and another £50 for doing the same thing, the same day, is off to my mind too. I wonder if a solution would be for more notice, and more ability to select the time of jury duty. So anyone employed or self employed in something with a slow season could do jury duty then, or between contracts, or planned like holidays. It would be more organising, but I am sure a program could be devised to come up with something.

Lily-Rose_3

ceredigion wrote: »

I've always fancied it, life experience and all that. However, having just seen the payment figures(*)it would brake me as a self employed tradesmen, it wouldn't cover my business expenses so would be bankrupt if it was a long trial.
(*) does that include expenses, the nearest court to me is a 200 mile round trip. HMRC allow me 45p per mile, so £90 cost and all ready in minus figuresa xz.

200 miles round trip to a court? Where do you live?! Can't think of anywhere in the UK that is 100 miles from a court.

baza52 wrote: »

Done Jury service 4 times over the years and love doing it.
Last did it this time last year at Belmarsh and had 3 cases.

If you could volunteer to do it I definitely would.
Found it all quite interesting but when your not on on a case it can be boring waiting around.

You have been called up 4 times?

I was called once - a week after my 18th birthday. Never been called since.

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

No I would not want to lose my job or house. However, surely the fact that this might be likely would be a good reason for the court to excuse your service?

I have a friend who has been called three times, and excused three times. Once she was very pregnant, the second time she was breastfeeding and the third time she was going into hospital.

I think there are valid reasons to be excused. However, 'don't want to' or 'can't be bothered' are not, imho, valid reasons.

I have never been called. My son has, and was unemployed at the time. A new law had just come in to say that people unemployed COULD still sign on whilst doing Jury Service, so he didn't lose any money. He found it extremely interesting.

Have to agree with SDW ^ I think if there are valid reasons to go, that's fine (and being self employed is a valid excuse IMO,) but if the reason is you can't be bothered, then that's very poor. And saying stuff like you don't owe the country anything and wouldn't adhere to any 'duty' is typical of the selfish entitled-to attitude of some.

rtho782

I did jury service a few years back, really enjoyed it, got on one relatively serious trail on the first day that lasted a day under the 2 weeks.

My employer at the time paid me the difference between my pay for jury duty and my normal pay.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

baza52

Lily-Rose wrote: »

You have been called up 4 times?

I was called once - a week after my 18th birthday. Never been called since.
QUOTE]

Yep, deferred once as well.

TyreLever

worried_jim wrote: »

I was fortunate and was released on full pay from work no issues, they have a big thing about supporting our communities.

I found it fascinating and can think of no better way to conduct a trial, it really is up to the prosecution to prove guilt.

12 random people in a room hearing the evidence, we picked everything to pieces and at the end we were pretty split to begin with, I was surprised that the "teachers/social workers" on the jury were of the string em up persuasion.

During some downtime I went into the "plead court" to watch the regulars swearing at the magistrate. Also being told by the bailiff on the first day to please not bring knives and weapons with us into court- makes you realise how many nutters are out there.

A great experience and I believe the only duty expected of you as a citizen. I look forward to doing it again, and if ever you find yourself in the dock, don't wear attire from JD Sports, not a good start.

F'K OFF!, your jokin right?I always wear that sort of clothes. Also I purchased some new clothes the other day from JD Sports and one of the jumpers I bought cost £45! Not exactly cheap crap.

Also what about motorcycle clothing? I cant drive a car and I dont relish sitting around in a courtroom in what might aswell be a space suit.