Jury

[AutumnalRose]

Hello. I've had my summons to do jury duty in the next few months - I'm so excited!
As any of you done it, and how did you find it?

I know very few people who've been called for jury service (about ten) but almost all of them have been called twice or more. It's very odd!

@Elderflower14 The DI walked out to her car emblazoned with her number and the guy we had found guilty was in the car park. Luckily she hadn't got near her car and was able to walk away until he had gone.

And still people think jury service is a chance of a lifetime.

Jurors I was with were allowed water and cough sweets. It’s at the judge’s discretion.

SAHP or anything else is irrelevant to jury service. It is considered something than any eligible adult in the UK should be prepared for. FWIW, I live in fear of being called.

I don't know about when a jury gets isolated, but for everything else you have virtually no chance of being excused. None at all. My husband managed to defer his first calling in the early 1990s, as he was a student nurse & it would have affected his studies. However, it was deferred and not cancelled.

As another poster said at the beginning of this thread, they too knew someone who deferred due to studies, but was called within weeks. My husband was never called again until March of this year - I don't think this was anything to do with him deferring almost 30 years earlier though. Maybe it was.

When he was called this year, the online forms were very detailed, and everything is spelled out clearly as to what you can and can't note down about your situation. The box where you have to input your work commitments, for example, requires explicit detail and gives examples of the exact things not to say, such as "my workplace is busy and there's no holiday cover". You really have to go in with the mindset that you can't get out of it.

'Awesome', 'buzzing' and 'amazing'... Your view of this is so superficial.

You'll likely witness some terrible things and encounter people who've been through hell and/or had their lives ruined.

Someone I know had to tell the jury how she was molested. Amazing?

I mean, if you read some of my other replies you will see that I have said that I'm under no illusion that it's not necessarily going to be 'amazing'' But I am looking forward to doing it. And perhaps I use those words because at the time of receiving the letter, I was buzzing as it's been something I've always wanted to do.

Fair enough, and having shared your thoughts here and received a huge number of varying replies, you know now that how you feel about it is something you'll do well to keep to yourself in real life, as so many people have so many thoughts on the matter.

That's why I asked for people's views. Absolutely, not. I've spent enough of my life being quiet to please others, I'm all about saying how I feel on something, and if someone disagrees with my view, I really don't mind. And the people that I have told, have generally all said they would love to do it.

Genuine question then, after all you've read about the bleaker side of this process, do you not think it's an incredibly personal and sensitive topic? It's not about not being in agreement, it's about the sensitivity needed.

Yeah of course it is. And I in no way meant to come across that way. I have been through some god awful things in my life. I think that because the chance of getting chosen is very slim, for the letter to come through, to me it's amazing that I've been chosen to undertake an important civil duty.

I think sometimes as well, one needs to read/hear about the bleaker side to humble oneself, and it serves as a reminder that I could be in one an harrowing case.

How the heck did that man work with children if he had convictions for violence? Surely they do DBS check on people working with children ?
How did he pass his DBS?

Waited hours and hours every day for 10 days but not called once and sent home every day. Whole system seemed flawed and wasteful of everyone's time. And that was 20 years ago - probably worse now.
A friend was on a case that involved bestiality that left her severely traumatised.
I would do it again if called but not with enthusiasm.

Same. I found it really worrying. 😬

My mum
Did it. And was never actually called. She spent a week sitting around. The processes seemed very inefficient to me. It starting till gone 10am, lots of breaks and early finishing. Etc. And they wonder why there is a huge backlog.

My son is doing it now. I doubt he'll ever forget it. It's traumatised him. And there are some batshit people with him who shouldn't be anywhere near such an important process.
It's scary, tbh.

I was a juror on a trial that ran for 5 weeks. I consider myself fortunate because it was a criminal matter with all sorts of fascinating characters involved - many who arrived in a prison van - but the actual case involved no violence whatsoever. So it was interesting but not disturbing. And I must confess there were some absolutely hilarious moments. At one point the judge had to call a recess for the jury to compose ourselves as we were crying with laughter. The prosecutor spun around in her chair so we wouldn’t see her smile, the judge’s associate suddenly had an urgent need to bury her face in a tissue to fake cough. Only the judge kept her composure.

There was an absolutely awful young man on the jury however. Falling asleep during testimony, sneaking sweets in to eat in the courtroom. Described the judge and prosecutor as looking like boring bitches. I told him they were serious women doing serious jobs! Thankfully he got chucked off the jury before we deliberated because he’d already declared he would vote not guilty for a laugh even though the defendant was clearly guilty.

You can claim any loss of earnings back. It’s what I did when I did Jury Service in 2012.

I was on a pretty awful case (that I won’t go into detail on here) but they were found guilty and given life! Those 3 weeks in June 2012 were so draining!

I am on jury service soon, dreading it as it is going to a logistical nightmare with child and dog and I am dreading having to sit around for hours.

I did it last year. A surgeon accused of rape - we found him guilty. Lots of waiting around, a weird mix of harrowing and boring.

I was a bit shocked that no one checked in to see how we were, just given a leaflet with the Samaritans number. The young men on the jury were fantastic, kept asking everyone if they were ok. It's a mad experience.

I'm glad I did it, but definitely wouldn't do it again..

Oh my God yes, this! I was astounded by some people's views, scary stuff.
I hope your son is ok x

Aww I'm sorry to hear that. Oh really.

It reminds me of the scene of EastEnders recently, with Sharon Watts.
As for that immature juror, I still think there should be some sort of vetting process so folk like that don't ever get to step foot in court as a juror. It's an important duty that should be taken serious when deciding on a guilty or not verdict

Any advice for me… I turned up today and wasn’t selected for a case. About a third of us wasn’t needed,6 out of 18.

We got told afterwards to go home and await further instructions by email from the court officer. I got an email about 4.30 saying I’m not needed to attend court tomorrow, but should still be prepared to go to court if recalled , for the duration of my jury service period. It says to go to work if you can , and keep an eye on emails or text messages incase I’m recalled.

This is rather inconvenient , work had booked me off for two weeks jury service ( I get paid anyway ) but now I’m basically able to go to work but tell them I may be called back for the next day ?…

Anyone else had this ?

Yes, my husband did, as did all of the people he was with who were repeatedly sent home due to not being needed.

My husband works for the NHS and does 12-hr shifts, so this impacted how he was paid / worked around jury service, as he rarely works more than two consecutive days, and works weekends, so it was just a case of his department juggling things round.

You should let your employer know, and it's up to them to tell you if they want you back - it may be important, for example, if it's a big company, they may have already arranged to cover your work and won't care whether you are at home or on jury service for a day. A smaller company might want you to work.