To not understand what they expect me to do?

It seems so unfortunate that they ask so many people (repeatedly) who can't do it because of childcare when I've never been asked and could easily get the time off work and do not have childcare issues. Shame you can't put your name on a list to volunteer to do it and get pre-vetted, then once you've done it twice you are automatically ineligible.

The suggestion was the OP's partner books two weeks annual leave to cover the OP being at J.S.

exactly, why are people trying to make things harder than they need to be.

Companies cannot require you to take jury duty as annual leave.

Don't ever be forced into that.

This is absolute nonsense. You clearly have no idea how jury selection works.

Just hand her baby over to the homeless man sitting outside the court.

The husband wasn't the one called for jury service.

But what do you actually expect her to do with the child?

Employers have to give you time off for jury service but they certainly don’t have to pay you for it.
The £64.95 loss of earnings payment is ludicrous and if, like me, you run your own business the timeout of being able to do so is even more financially crippling.
The £5.71 lunch allowance doesn’t even cover a lunch from the courts own cafe, let alone meal deal.
But yes, it’s our civic duty and an important one at that. The demographic of the juries, when I did service last month, already seemed skewed very much toward people my age (52) and older, and far more women than men. Hardly any young people at all. I imagine that there had been a lot of deferring or excusing, for reasons the OP has stated. Something needs to be done to overhaul the system if it is to remain fit for purpose.

It is still unpaid. Although I'm retired, I am involved in several different voluntary activities, many retired people have caring roles - elderly parents who would cope without a visit but would find it distressing, or caring for GC, meaning that alternative childcare needs to be found, but unlikely to be compensated for because it's not the juror's own children requiring care. My time is valuable to me, the more so because I have so little left. But I am expected to give up 3 weeks or more with no recompense, and to travel for over an hour each way on unreliable public transport during rush hour, which I would find physically extremely difficult as I find it difficult to stand for any length of time. At least payment at minimum wage would allow me to take a taxi.

Those rights do not extend to spouses.

In Scotland the jury in Criminal trials is made up of 15 people compared to 12 in England which would be a contributing factor I guess

No wonder the country's in the state it's in....with people like you not able to comprehend the OP's original post before spouting their judgemental opinions.

Giving staff time off for jury service

Is your husband aware of his rights?

This is so shite... from so many angles.

DP's employer should permit emergency parental leave/compassionate leave, though this may be without pay.

Courts should have a better system for childcare than 'you sort it out or else'.

But also, if women don't, or won't do jury service, we end up with juries that are not a good cross section of society.

Add in all those people who won't go because of their job, and you further narrow that cross section to those who don't work for whatever reason, and don't have kids.

Theres already far fewer jurors with disabilities because most courts are in NO way accessible for disabled people...

A jury is really not a group of ones peers if all these people are excluded from jury duty!

Where do you think she'll find one with space for this?

It's 12 months (just looked it up). You can give 3 dates within the next 12 months. That seems reasonable.

Move to Scotland! It's such a small population that we get called all the time (at least where I live)!

The relative crime rate must be higher (or relative need for a jury I suppose), otherwise a smaller population would also mean lower number of crimes.

Childcare starts at £75 a day near me. That's the cheaper end. So the choice of spending £750+ or losing husbands wages for length of trial would literally mean we couldn't pay our mortgage or other bills. Pointing out that when you have a small child you provide the care for you can't reasonably do jury service isn't "trying to get out of something". There are people in this thread acting as if the country would fall apart without it. I am very menopausal and would be terrible on a jury at the moment!! It should be much easier to defer.

I think you need to ask to defer not be excused, you would have to do it sometime in the next 6 months I think. You need a really good reason to be excused (I don't think child care problems would be sufficient), not so much to defer and I expect a temporary problem with childcare would be OK. My DH deferred because of work commitments and did it a few months later.

Your attitude is exactly why this country is in the state it's in.

Instead of gritting your teeth and putting up with any stupid nonsense, do something about it. At the very least, the absolute minimum, be vocal about how wrong it is.

I would call the Jury Central Summoning Bureau and explain that your request to be excused (did you ask for a deferral?) was refused and that you would like to appeal. You understand that there is likely to be an appeal hearing but as court date is so soon you don't think it will be resolved in time (did they tell you this, or is it what you assume?).

I would be the same OP. DH could not take time off now if he wanted a job to come back. My mum had a stroke recently. FIL is blind, MIL is on another continent. Friends,neighbors and siblings all have jobs. If by some miracle I could source temporary paid childcare, the allowance doesn't even cover my toddler, let alone the preschooler and wrap around for eldest. It seems very unfair, a deferral until kids at school would hardly be impossible.
If they want a truly impartial, not pissed off jury, compensation should not be capped.

As above.

There are some really ridiculous suggestion on this thread.

Clearly some people have been living under a rock if they think that getting child care at the drop of a hat and time of work at a moments notice is that easy.

My dd just had hers deferred until she has finished university as she doesn't live here (although she does sometimes) but didn't change where she lived on the electrolnroll. So it's deferred for eighteen months.

Of course, that's not going to be an ideal time either because she should be getting her first proper job but everyone has something.