Jury service

HillStreetBlues

Ectophile said:

Rtj123 said:

Does anyone know how the trial dates are given? Say if a case is expected to last 4 days but then only takes 2, do they bring the next case forward whenever free or do they stick to the date they have given out? I’m assuming they need time to gather the people needed for a trial to start?

When I did it, many years ago, the courts had several court rooms.  Cases would be ending and new cases would be starting every day.

So all us jurors turned up in the morning, and they would pick some of us at random to be herded into whichever court room was about to hear a case.  Anyone left over was sent home for the day.

Most cases are pretty quick - only a few days.  If your case ends and you still have jury service left to run, then you get recycled round the system to hear another case.

1st day of mine got to 11am told to come back at 1pm  then got sent home, repeat day 2 and day 3.
By day 4 we knew what would happen so a few of us had liquid lunch for 2 hours, came back and got a case! (different one) Whoops!

Bodkin64

Hi, I accepted my summons for jury service a little while ago. However something has come up which may make it very difficult to extend my service period much beyond the minimum 10 days. The booklet I’ve been sent says “if a trial is likely to last longer than your expected 10 days, you will be asked if this will be difficult for you. You may be required to provide proof of the difficulty, but the ultimate decision whether you can be released from a longer case will be made by the trial judge”

It’s likely I’m going to exchange contracts on the sale of my late parents house soon and so will need to be available for its final clearance before completion. If I can’t do this it might jeopardise the whole sale. Does anyone have any experience of what’s considered a valid reason to be released, and would expect this to be reasonable? With hindsight I should have seen this coming and wish i’d have asked to defer however it’s too late for that.

mr_stripey

Malcyb said:

Hi, I accepted my summons for jury service a little while ago. However something has come up which may make it very difficult to extend my service period much beyond the minimum 10 days. The booklet I’ve been sent says “if a trial is likely to last longer than your expected 10 days, you will be asked if this will be difficult for you. You may be required to provide proof of the difficulty, but the ultimate decision whether you can be released from a longer case will be made by the trial judge”

It’s likely I’m going to exchange contracts on the sale of my late parents house soon and so will need to be available for its final clearance before completion. If I can’t do this it might jeopardise the whole sale. Does anyone have any experience of what’s considered a valid reason to be released, and would expect this to be reasonable? With hindsight I should have seen this coming and wish i’d have asked to defer however it’s too late for that.

I think you'll be fine. You're not attempting to excuse yourself from serving entirely, just beyond the two weeks. There will be a court clerk there who will explain what is going on. In my experience the court is grateful for your service and will accommodate you wherever possible.

Makingabobor2

I'd love to get a go. Both my parents got called twice in their life time, but my mum got let off both times with a letter from the GP saying her health wasn't up to it. TBH. I think maybe back then as the population of the UK was a lot less, it was more common for people to get called up and often more than once. I am almost 66 and still not been called yet. 

mr_stripey

Makingabobor2 said:

I'd love to get a go. Both my parents got called twice in their life time, but my mum got let off both times with a letter from the GP saying her health wasn't up to it. TBH. I think maybe back then as the population of the UK was a lot less, it was more common for people to get called up and often more than once. I am almost 66 and still not been called yet. 

I was called 10 years or so ago but would love another stint.

Amazing experience, still keep in touch with some of my fellow jurors and it's a great conversation subject with new friends and colleagues (assuming they have also served)

Bodkin64

mr_stripey said:

Makingabobor2 said:

I'd love to get a go. Both my parents got called twice in their life time, but my mum got let off both times with a letter from the GP saying her health wasn't up to it. TBH. I think maybe back then as the population of the UK was a lot less, it was more common for people to get called up and often more than once. I am almost 66 and still not been called yet. 

I was called 10 years or so ago but would love another stint.

Amazing experience, still keep in touch with some of my fellow jurors and it's a great conversation subject with new friends and colleagues (assuming they have also served)

I did it in my 20s and found it very interesting, so now I’m retired I’m quite happy to do it again, at least for a couple of weeks, however unfortunately life events do get in the way, hence my concern