Jury service

Keep_pedalling

Rtj123 said:

Skiddaw1 said:

I've served and so has my husband. I was lucky in that I was chosen on my first day and the trial lasted well into the second week (after which most of us were discharged) but my husband wasn't chosen until his second to last day, by which time he was heartily fed up of sitting around drinking manky vending machine coffee! Hope the remainder of your time goes well @Rtj123 . It'll be a lot less stressful once you're actually on a trial- honestly...

thanks. When your husband was selected on his second to last day, did he end up staying for over the 2 weeks?

He would have gone over the 2 weeks if the trial lasted more than 2 days. There was a murder trial going on in one of the other courts when I last served which had started the previous week and went on for several more weeks.

mr_stripey

Rtj123 said:

Thanks for all your great comments. 

I have to ring up in a days time after 5pm to see what I have to do next. It’s a bit of a pain also as I’m self employed it’s difficult to plan anything 

Yeah I get that. I think the self employed angle might work better than the anxiety issue to be honest. I was lucky in that my employer covered my wages as normal - I even gained a bit on the expenses. I might not have been so keen if I was losing money

Rtj123

mr_stripey said:

Rtj123 said:

Thanks for all your great comments. 

I have to ring up in a days time after 5pm to see what I have to do next. It’s a bit of a pain also as I’m self employed it’s difficult to plan anything 

Yeah I get that. I think the self employed angle might work better than the anxiety issue to be honest. I was lucky in that my employer covered my wages as normal - I even gained a bit on the expenses. I might not have been so keen if I was losing money

I was there half a day Monday which I will claim for but by the time I had got out and back, I had no time to do anything in the afternoon so in effect I've lost a days wages. The £60 something they offer just doesn't cover what I need. I'm literally losing money, something I can't really afford especially in today's climate 

goater78

Someone I know went to jury service and ended up being on a trial for 12 months. I wouldn’t mind doing a two week stint but couldn’t handle a whole year. 

MalMonroe

Rtj123 said:

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, didn’t know the best place to post it.

I’m currently on jury service. I went for one morning where 12 people were chosen for a jury. The other 10 have been sent away and told to ring a number later in the week for instructions?

On my form before a jury was decided, Ithad a box where it said to write any reasons for the judge to consider you not to be part of the jury. I have a breathing problem which gets worse when I’m nervous. I stated I am nervous going into court.


Are they likely to take this into consideration for when I have to call later in the week? And is it likely the other 10 people will be asked

Hi, I always used to think that jury service was compulsory but if you do have any problems, especially health, they are quite happy to consider requests to be excused.

I was once called up for jury service to start on the very same day I started a new job. I actually went down to the court the day after I received the notification and spoke to one of the members of staff there. I was excused. I was amazed, as I thought I'd be told I had to attend no matter what.

A few years after that I was called to be a member of a panel at an inquest but I felt I would not be able to cope with it mentally at that time. I phoned and explained my health worries and I was excused from that, too. 

I always thought it would be a good experience and I've had friends who have done it but for me both requests were at very inconvenient and stressful times. Maybe third time lucky? 

You should definitely mention your health situation and be honest about your concerns. As for the other jurors, nobody knows what they will say or be told. 

Richard1212

There is no doubt that the O/P will be excused if he says he has panic attacks or severe nervous trouble in situations such as jury duty. I doubt that the court officials would even want a doctor's note.

TimSynths

goater78 said:

Someone I know went to jury service and ended up being on a trial for 12 months. I wouldn’t mind doing a two week stint but couldn’t handle a whole year. 

The judge will make sure you are available if it is to be a long trial, no one randomly ends up on one.

My trial lasted 7 days in Brighton, the following day we went to Lewes crown court, I had a look around the castle next door, didn't get picked for the next trial but a court official gave me a tour of the court including the onsite mini museum and a walk along the corridor the condemn would take- fascinating to be in a building so old life and death decisions were made.

Overall it was a great experience, went to the pub after trial a few days, always went out for lunch, used to see the barrister in the train station, ive bumped into jurors years alter in Tesco and restaurants.

We debated all the facts given to us, made no rush decisions in the jury room, I cant think of a fairer way to conduct a trial than have 12 random people from all walks of life thrown together to hear the evidence and burden of proof. 

I also manage the work diary's of approx. 2000 colleagues and I would say at any one time we have 1-2 off doing Jury service.

baser999

goater78 said:

Someone I know went to jury service and ended up being on a trial for 12 months. I wouldn’t mind doing a two week stint but couldn’t handle a whole year. 

Nearing the end of my stint many years ago they announced there’d be a very long ‘fraud type’ case coming up, lot of paperwork to be read etc and they asked if there were volunteers willing to put their names down for it.

Albermarle

Andy_L said:

Albermarle said:

I find it strange that neither me or my OH have never been called to jury service, and we are both in our 60's and have always lived and worked in the UK.

"in 2015 there were 361,300 juror summons issued in England and Wales, but the number who actually sat on a jury was just 179,200. With the two nations having a total population of 57.8 million, it means the chances of serving are relatively slim. The Ministry of Justice declined to give figures on the likelihood of being summoned, but a BBC Scotland analysis found that the probability of being asked to serve is just 40% over a lifetime."

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/20/jury-service-repeated-summons

Assuming that's an accurate analysis then the chance of neither of you being called is 36%, so about as strange as rolling a 5 or 6 on a 6 sided dice, so not particularly unusual

Good points, thanks for the info.
Reading the other posts, I am quite glad I have not been called, as I would get very bored/impatient if I had to hang around all day(s) waiting to be called.

EssexHebridean

mr_stripey said:

As an aside, and knowing this site is well known for it's advice on parking tickets - at the end of my first day on the jury, we were listening to the somewhat upsetting testimony from the victim in an unpleasant case. The Judge was keen that the witness should try and get her spell in the witness box completed that afternoon (rather than coming back the next day) and asked the jury if we would mind staying late to allow this. No one on the jury objected but one lady said she had only paid for parking until 5pm and was worried she might get a ticket. 

The Judge simply replied "if you get a ticket, you bring it to me and I will make it vanish"

Well played sir, I thought. 

The advice given on both occasions I have served was to pay for a full day's parking, and that this would be reimbursed under allowable expenses.  that may not be possible everywhere though. The second time I served, it was necessary to apply for permission to claim expenses for travelling by car, however - it was granted straight away for me as the bus journey time would have been at least three times that taken in a car, and so was deemed impractical.