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Original poster

Jury service - what do I need to know?

140 replies

C1239 · 27/06/2023 19:26

I’ve been called for jury service in a couple of months time, just wondering for those of you who have done it before what would your top advice be? I’ve heard there can be some waiting around so take a book. During the two weeks if you aren’t required one day do you go to work as normal? What if you are only in court for half a day do you then go to work, do they tell you work when you are and aren’t in?!

OP posts:
HarpyValley · 27/06/2023 20:31

Ansjovis · 27/06/2023 20:11

Everyone else has covered most of it so I'll leave it at this: if you do get chosen for a case, make your mental and physical wellbeing a priority during that time. I was assigned to a fairly straightforward two day trial for a relatively low level offence (such that I was surprised the magistrates court hadn't dealt with it) but I found it unexpectedly draining.

It was probably an “either way” offence where the defendant has the right to elect a jury trial at the Crown Court even if the Magistrates would be happy to hear it. Theft is an example; when I worked in the CJS we’d occasionally get cases of theft of a 19p tin of beans going up to CC because the defendant had elected trial.

Grumpyfroghats · 27/06/2023 20:31

OneTC · 27/06/2023 20:26

Yeah agreed on the intelligence thing. It really made me cute trial by jury quite differently!

There were 4 people who cared either way and everyone else just wanted to go home as quick as possible

Out of interest - did you find that the jurors who weren't really following wanted to go for guilty or not guilty? Or did they just follow the people who cared?

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 27/06/2023 20:33

Concentrate! I felt it was a bit like watching a play and found myself drifting off. Not fair on anyone.

the other jurors can be annoying.

BrassicaBabe · 27/06/2023 20:34

TellySavalashairbrush · 27/06/2023 20:18

I found it very boring . The most alarming thing was the level of intelligence among some of my fellow jurors. You are looking at the evidence presented and deciding whether someone is guilty or not- one or two in my group really struggled to understand the most basic of things. I truly believe there should be a vetting process to be a juror.

Spot on!! I came to say the same. Massive generational, but it felt to me like anyone with any sense had managed to get out of service leaving... err... the rest! One lad in the jury with me didn't know the difference between anonymous and unanimous. I came away feeling that if I was ever unfortunate enough to be on trial I'd rather be judged by a single judge than a jury.

trytopullyoursocksup · 27/06/2023 20:34

It's a nice short day. Everyone else in the process has meetings before and after your working day, you might be for instance asked to come to court next day at 10 and then that day let go at 3.30 for various practical reasons. However, despite this, it is exhausting.
Wear layers.
You aren't allowed to talk to other people about it so have some way of "changing the subject" in your head. Get some exercise, see a good friend (talking about other things) , watch a good film in the evening.

PandaChopChop · 27/06/2023 20:35

My H was called up years ago. He had one very short case but it took about 4 or 5 half days to resolve due to points of law and the nature of it.
He suffered quite badly with back pain at the time and said it was incredibly difficult to remain seated for such a long time. If you suffer with anything like that I would ask for some kind of reasonable adjustment if that's remotely possible.

And also make sure you have some mental health support. My IL was called up on an inquiry over a youth that had died whilst in an institution. He found it terribly upsetting and even now isn't the same.

Bluevelvetsofa · 27/06/2023 20:41

I did it many years ago and I found it interesting, but I was surprised that, given it’s a random selection of people for jury service, 5 out of the 12 jurors were 18. That’s not to say they were uninformed or unintelligent, but obviously, they lacked life experience.

arapunzel · 27/06/2023 20:47

I was summoned and sat on a jury a few years ago, and have just been summoned again for jury service in a few weeks -deferring this time as I have a newborn.

Echoing what others have said - it’s boring, there’s lots of waiting around, take a book, phone charger and lots of snacks. If you are selected and sit, then when you do go into the deliberation room you literally can not leave until you’ve reached a verdict/court closes or the judge recalls the jury back to court. So snacks and refreshments are needed! I remember we were only let out by a court clerk who got very cranky with our requests for water

Work - you’d need to go in if your not needed by the court for that day. I believe that if your work does pay you whilst your on jury service, then your work can claim some of the cost from the court. If your not there then the court wouldn’t pay.

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 27/06/2023 20:55

I did it in 2018 and we could go out for lunch or have a lunch at the court for free.

It was pretty boring and the case was pretty trivial (name calling) and all my fellow jurors were more interested in when they were allowed out for a cigarette as there was no smoking allowed inside the deliberation room, so basically the smokers just agreed with everyone else.

Loopylalalou · 27/06/2023 20:58

I was in the jury for a case of alleged child abuse, but we unanimously found Not Guilty. As you can’t discuss anything with anyone until you get in the jury room, it screwed my head thinking about no-one else seeing what I was seeing. Luckily it wasn’t the case but it shook me, a usually pragmatic type. No aftercare, you’re spat out into the street once the verdict is delivered by the judge.

DdraigGoch · 27/06/2023 21:00

Make your book a long one. War and Peace would do. You'll do a lot of waiting

thaisweetchill · 27/06/2023 21:07

How do you plan on getting there OP? When I did it I went by train so if you use public transport make sure you keep the tickets and receipts so you can claim it back.

My court were funny about driving and reimbursing parking fees (not sure why) so just look in to this if you are planning to drive.

Definitely take a book, I wouldn't take headphones because you may be called so best to keep your ears open.

If you're worried about work can you take your laptop with you? A few people worked when I were there as there was lotsss of waiting so definitely take snacks!

5foot5 · 27/06/2023 21:08

I didn’t find it boring at all. However I was lucky enough to be selected for a case on day one which lasted four days. When our case was over we were told there was only time for one more case before the Christmas break and our jury were all let go as there were enough from the remaining pool who could do the next case. So I had no boring sitting around really and found it all fascinating.

We were asked not to discuss the case with friends and family but we were allowed out at lunch time. Apart, that is, from the last day when all the evidence had been given and we were deliberating our verdict. We were shut in a room that had an ensuite toilet and food was sent in.

Unfortunately I have to agree with @DiscoStusMoonboots and others about some of the other jurors. I would say that about a third of us took it really seriously and discussed everything fully before deciding. Another third gave the impression they had made their minds up the minute the charges were read out and they saw the colour of the defendant's skin. In fact on the first day as we were filing out and before we had heard any evidence one man jovially muttered to me "Can we just find him guilty now and all go home!" I think I just gave him a Paddington stare. The remaining third were mostly quiet but seemed prepared to listen to discussion and give it some thought.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 27/06/2023 21:09

Loopylalalou · 27/06/2023 20:58

I was in the jury for a case of alleged child abuse, but we unanimously found Not Guilty. As you can’t discuss anything with anyone until you get in the jury room, it screwed my head thinking about no-one else seeing what I was seeing. Luckily it wasn’t the case but it shook me, a usually pragmatic type. No aftercare, you’re spat out into the street once the verdict is delivered by the judge.

The lack of aftercare is appalling.

At least people can now be excused for life. When I did it the most the judge could excuse us for was 10 years - though I’ve never been called again.

Its insane that we show people images that are utterly horrific, have them sit through gruesome descriptions of abominable acts, make them listen for over a month, have them discuss it for multiple days and then once they give their verdict it’s “Thanks, bye…”

Not a moment of care given. I was lucky, I’d had therapy before for something else so I was able to go back to someone I trusted and talk to them. It was traumatising.

I believe in the jury way of doing things, but we utterly fail jurors in the care department.

Delphigirl · 27/06/2023 21:13

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 27/06/2023 21:09

The lack of aftercare is appalling.

At least people can now be excused for life. When I did it the most the judge could excuse us for was 10 years - though I’ve never been called again.

Its insane that we show people images that are utterly horrific, have them sit through gruesome descriptions of abominable acts, make them listen for over a month, have them discuss it for multiple days and then once they give their verdict it’s “Thanks, bye…”

Not a moment of care given. I was lucky, I’d had therapy before for something else so I was able to go back to someone I trusted and talk to them. It was traumatising.

I believe in the jury way of doing things, but we utterly fail jurors in the care department.

Show quote history

It is a bit better now and there are numbers given for aftercare/support. But it is difficult because the nature of the system means that you can’t discuss any element of your jury deliberations, ever, with anyone. It is an incredibly important public service and lots of people say it is the most important thing they have done - especially if they have been involved in a longer case.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/06/2023 21:19

Massive generational, but it felt to me like anyone with any sense had managed to get out of service leaving... err... the rest!

That's why they try hard to make sure all attend, so they can keep a good balance

It doesn't always work though and I had two real "stand outs"
One was a young chap of the all-police-are-pigs persuasion, who insisted the charge was a stitch-up and the accused wasn't even there (even though he'd admitted he was)
The second was a strange lady who "just had a feeling" about guilt or innocence. She wouldn't expand on this in the jury discussions, and worse still she kept changing her mind because the "feeling" had apparently altered

PonkyPonky · 27/06/2023 21:21

OneTC · 27/06/2023 20:16

I had a month plus long one at the old bailey about a brutal attempted murder. It was harrowing from start to finish

This would be my worst nightmare. Do they consider if you’re mentally strong enough for a case like that? I can’t even watch things that are remotely tense or scary on TV as I’ll get nightmares! I really don’t think I’d cope with it in real life at all

musixa · 27/06/2023 21:21

Why are some people called repeatedly and others never? No members of my family have ever been called.

OneTC · 27/06/2023 21:21

Grumpyfroghats · 27/06/2023 20:31

Out of interest - did you find that the jurors who weren't really following wanted to go for guilty or not guilty? Or did they just follow the people who cared?

Show quote history

Mostly went guilty or abstained until the people that listened had argued about it a bit.

We also had to choose between 2 charges as well, which I found really weird

OneTC · 27/06/2023 21:31

musixa · 27/06/2023 21:21

Why are some people called repeatedly and others never? No members of my family have ever been called.

At one address 4 members of my family got called a total of 6 times

Me twice, but I didn't have to do it the second time because I'd already done it recently.

My dad once, but he got a swerve somehow because he travelled for work

My sister once, she did a couple of very short cases I think and a bit of sitting about

My mum twice and she went to both of them even though she didn't have to, and she quite enjoyed it

That doesn't seem very random when loads of other households never get one

rainbowsandrainclouds · 27/06/2023 21:33

This should be explained to you at court if you do end up on the jury but if there's even a slight thought in your head that the person isn't guilty based on what you've heard and the evidence provided then you must vote not guilty. You have to be 100% certain beyond all reasonable doubt that they are guilty to give that verdict.

Also, it will be surprising, and sometimes rather worrying, to hear what other jurors thoughts on things are.

Barelyable · 27/06/2023 21:35

@Puzzledandpissedoff I had one of those too...she just couldn't see him being guilty...he was too smart...too handsome etc.
Didn't stop him from being sent down for burglary and battery of the home owners though.

Soapyspuds · 27/06/2023 21:37

One of my cases involved a gang who - not in the slightest bit intimidatingly - insisted on waiting outside the courtroom/front entrance when we adjourned

I would find them guilty regardless of the evidence if they did that.

I am probably not well suited to being a jury member. 😂

Delphigirl · 27/06/2023 21:40

rainbowsandrainclouds · 27/06/2023 21:33

This should be explained to you at court if you do end up on the jury but if there's even a slight thought in your head that the person isn't guilty based on what you've heard and the evidence provided then you must vote not guilty. You have to be 100% certain beyond all reasonable doubt that they are guilty to give that verdict.

Also, it will be surprising, and sometimes rather worrying, to hear what other jurors thoughts on things are.

This is not correct. There are no percentages. You just need to be sure. Do not listen to ransoms on the internet, take your direction from the judge and only the judge!

Delphigirl · 27/06/2023 21:40

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