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Original poster

Can you be excused from jury service if you are pregnant?

18 replies

manzanilla · 09/11/2005 19:43

My friend has been summoned for jury service in Jan, by which time she will be 20 weeks' pg. She is worried about doing jury service in case of medical appts, illness etc and also the practicality of doing it when needing to wee constantly. #

Is pregnancy a reason for being excused from service (if you want to be - I know that many women would not want to be treated differently)? If the court suggests deferral, could this be for some time as she intends to breastfeed?

Have tried the court service website but no info. Any advice gratefully received.

TIA

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cod · 09/11/2005 19:45

Message withdrawn

starandsnowshaker · 09/11/2005 19:47

have you looked here get her to speak to her doc

cod · 09/11/2005 19:48

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Gobbledigook · 09/11/2005 19:49

can you eat on the jury while in court?

if so, I'd go for it - what could be better than sitting on your arse all day scoffing?!

tiredemma · 09/11/2005 19:50

being a nosy person, i cant understand why anybody would want to opt out of jury service.

i loved it. Chances are she isnt really going to be in a major 10 week long affair, a few days max.

id jump at it again, even if i was 39 weeks with ankles like john meyrick.

pootlepod · 09/11/2005 19:50

Slightly diverting here, can you be excused from jury service if you have children to look after, i.e. if you are a SAHM?

fennel · 09/11/2005 19:54

you can get out of it for all sorts of reasons, including being a SAHM, or having childcare which doesn't fit with jury service hours.

but it can be fun. dp did it last year, he loved it. he got off work, paid, for 2 weeks, they started at 10ish, had a couple of hours off for lunch, and finished at 4 on a "long" day. and meanwhile he got money for childcare so i got paid for doing childcare for him...

zippitippitoes · 09/11/2005 19:56

someone asked before about getting out of it..and we had a debate..did they succeed I thought the rules were quite strict now?

fennel · 09/11/2005 20:00

if you don't have someone who can look after your children for you, that's a good reason. for example dp was told he could get out of it as our childcare finishes about 5.30, and if he had to officially be on duty til 5.30, he wouldn't be able to fetch the baby from childcare. and nurseries don't make allowances for jury service.

as it happened he wanted to do it so we sorted the childcare but it would have been a good enough reason. also, because he looks after the baby on wednesdays, and nursery won't just take her for an extra day, that would have counted as a good enough reason. (but in the end i took the wednesdays off, and got paid for it, instead, but it just happens my job is very flexible).

zippitippitoes · 09/11/2005 20:02

that's interesting, i'm surprised as i thought it was difficult to avoid for whatefer reason

starandsnowshaker · 09/11/2005 20:03

i know for a fact if i had been called up while pg i couldnt have done it as i was being sick all the time but it wouldnt bother me if i was called up now.

my grandad got out of it on religious reasons

hornbag · 09/11/2005 20:50

I was due to do jury service when pregnant but was suffering with various pains and discomfort especially when sitting for long periods (turned out to be SPD). I had to send the details of my GP to the powers that be so they could speak to him -as a result I was excused/deferred.
I didn't see it as "getting out of it" though as I would have actually liked to have done it ( its just physically I couldn't).
Hope I get called up again!

bubbaloo · 09/11/2005 22:17

I loved it and would gladly do it again!
I also work at a court and the rules are very strict now-it's not as easy to get out of as it used to be.We have even had 2 of our judges doing jury service(not at our court!)recently.

Original poster
manzanilla · 11/11/2005 11:19

Thanks ladies for the info - have passed it on

X

OP posts:
northerner · 11/11/2005 11:28

I loved it and would do it agin too. You have the option to defer your jury service just once, but has to backed up by letter from employer/gp etc. Then when called gain you are obligated to do it I beleive.

JonesTheSteam · 11/11/2005 11:52

I got called to do jury service when I was 19 and in first year at uni - my dad helped me compose a long letter begging to be excused as would miss vital lectures etc.

It worked, but I got called up again in the summer - managed to get out of it again as I was due to attend a National Youth Orchestra of Wales course and my county music director wrote a letter on my behalf.

Have never been called up since - would love to do it now though!!!

SoupDragon · 11/11/2005 12:09

I was excused for childcare reasons a couple of years ago.

hereshoping · 13/11/2005 20:22

Im 34 weeks and doing it now - the rules have changed and they will defer it for you but not excuse you.
There are several other pg women there too
childcare reasons dont get you out of it either - I have 3 others to sort out
its not that bad thuogh

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