To ask what happens if you can't afford to do jury service?

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Let me start off by saying that I always thought I'd like to do jury service one day.

Now I've discovered that not only do my employers not pay you when you're on jury service, the rates courts pay you for loss of earnings are paltry - the sum I'd get for the first 10 days would be less than half what I'd actually lose, and rates from day 11 are still less than my wages so I couldn't actually afford to do it www.gov.uk/jury-service/what-you-can-claim

Can you refuse to do jury service on the grounds that you can't afford the loss of earnings? I'm single and have rent to pay, for context.

You do not need a childminder for an 11-year-old who has started secondary school for two hours after school.

The other two you ask someone and agree that you will repay in kind/money (you get a court allowance).

Believe me, I have absolutely NO FAMILY AT ALL, let alone to help out, and I managed to do jury service.

But this is all academic as you haven't been called anyway.

Agreed Light. My DSis for example has childcare options because she already uses childcare. Jury duty wouldn't be an issue for her, as nothing would really change. I however don't and have never used childcare. My DC have done overnighters with family before when DH and I have had a wedding etc to go to but that wouldn't keep my DC in school during the week days while I'm in court. I would like to do my civic duty. I would. I just think there should be something in place to ensure we are able. They could reallocate the childcare expenses to providing a childcare agency instead.

I'd not be happy to leave an 11 year old for two hours with no way of contacting me at all.

I wouldn’t want to leave an 11 year old responsible for getting 2 younger siblings to school in the morning, it’s not just one day, it’s 2 weeks.

Hopefully Cinders if it comes it will be when the DC are older or left home. I’m good to go now, semi retired and working part time and work tops up the pay, I’ve got 10 years left to be called up in, as after 70 you don’t have to do it apparently

I got called once, and my employer offered to make up the difference in my pay for the first 2 weeks, on the understanding that I would be checking emails and making up work I was missing in the evenings.

After that, i would have had to rely on the allowance (although I think it increases, so wouldn’t have been so bad). I don’t know what would have happened if there had been a trial that went on for months!
I did wonder at the time how people whose employers aren’t so accommodating manage. Juries would be made up of retired people!
Fortunately, I got excused 2 weeks before as the court was closed.

I was on a rape trial, they didn't ask that

Oh, good to know.

Ive wondered before if I could be excused on health grounds—I have bipolar and regularly relapse into psychotic depressive episodes. I take a ton of medication, which affects my memory and concentration. I’d worry that jury service would trigger problems, especially if it related to sexual assault (having been a rape victim years ago). But I guess you don’t know what the case is about until you turn up?

It's not about PAYING people for jury service... Just reimbursing them what they have lost by serving

Ive wondered before if I could be excused on health grounds

Whilst there aren't any minimum requirements for a jurors health situation or cognitive ability, I would have imagined that if a person is unable to work, due to those factors, they would also be unable to act as a juror ?

Of course language skills haven't been mentioned. There are plenty of eligible jurors whose first language may not be English.

I wonder if cases are held in Welsh in Wales ? Plenty of monolingual anglophones there ....

I got my mother exempted as she has Alzheimer's but it was quite a fight. They originally sent the letter to her and as she was confused by it ignored it hoping it would go away. She then forgot to tell me about it. It was only when a carer spotted a prosecution letter she hadn't hidden away that I knew anything about it. I then went round the houses with officials having to convince them she really wasn't capable and not just trying to duck doing it.
Shame as she would have really relished it if she'd been called up a few years earlier.

@Cindersdonegood you would be absolutely fine if you were called. You would be able to request a date during school holidays and your DH who is a teacher would be completely free to look after the children.

You would be able to request a date during school holidays and your DH who is a teacher would be completely free to look after the children.

I thought teachers worked during the school holidays ?

I've been called twice in 22 years - first time I would have been 38 weeks pregnant, I wrote and explained and was excused. The second time that 38 week bump was a teenager with a severe learning disability and I was his carer. Again I was excused (no one at all to look after him).

If you care about society enough to vote, you should make arrangements to be available for jury duty - it's just as important and a civic duty. People are very ignorant about the court system (through no fault of their own; most people won't ever go inside a court unless they have to make use of it) but it's an essential part of life that it works properly, and not just for the defendants. I think we all tend to forget that every crime comes with victims and they deserve justice which ONLY comes through responsible, sensible jurors doing their duty properly. Better to think of it as volunteering your time for an important cause than a nuisance or potential loss of income.

(That's assuming you aren't a full-time carer or 40 weeks pregnant or any of the other reasonable reasons for not doing it...)

It's sad how many replies here are on the lines of 'what lie shall I tell to get out of jury service?'

I suppose that's why we need juries :-)

Also, court hours are not the same as working hours. Trials often start at 10.30 or later and finish at 4.

I have deferred with no problems and for a period of over 16 years - they are very sensible and helpful. They don't want to force people - they want you to do a good job

In peacetime jury service and paying taxes are the two major obligations of a citizen. You expect to be out of pocket after paying taxes; why not after jury service?

For some it isn’t a case of just being out of pocket, it could mean being out of a home if they can’t afford to pay their rent or mortgage in full.

I’m a childminder & have been called up twice in the past few months. I’ve written to them explaining that other parents rely on me & loss of earnings etc. The first time it was deferred for 1 month...still waiting on the response to the 2nd excusal.
I think I’ll eventually have to do it which is a fecking nightmare & I could end up losing business. Why did they not call me up when I worked in a bloody bank? I’d have loved a week relaxing in court!

My mum did jury service about 2/3 years ago. She was talking to a man called at the same time. He was a self employed roofer. He asked to be excused but was denied.
In the end my mum was not selected for one trial did a short trial and asked to be excused due to childcare (grandchildren). She was allowed to go, but the man was still there when she left.
My mum was there a week but of course it can be longer.

Just to try to set some sort of record, I've been called six times and served four times. The first four times I did serve as I then worked for a local authority and they paid me in full, just had to agree refuse the fees paid by the court other than lunch expenses. The jury behaviour during all four cases was nothing short of a joke, especially the last where two women who were friends decided the defendant was guilty from the first moment they saw him, on the basis that he "looked like a right villain", and one bloke declared that he was a perfect judge of character and could tell instantly that the defendant was lying. The only thing that saved the poor sod was the jury foreman - myself - who spent the better part of three hours explaining the evidence and its implications in detail (it involved an area that I have some expertise in) and even then the two dumb women really only changed their vote because if they didn't they would have to have sandwiches for lunch again and they wanted to go to McDonalds. I managed to get excused the fifth time as I was self employed by then and taking me away from my business was likely to cause it to fall apart. Sixth time I wrote to the court politely suggesting that perhaps enough was enough and got excused again. Still waiting for number seven...

My DH has been called up a few times. He's self employed and would lose loads of money. Each time he has attended but explained his circumstances and been excused.

I am the fee earner for my company and have 2 employees. If I don't work then I cant pay them. Being called for jury service is my business nightmare, no way could I afford to do it.