Jury Service - attending sentencing after release
- Thread starter Dj_Jestar
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Associate
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I think you need to come up with a disguise.
Janitor outfit might be good, wear some overalls and take a mop in with you and nobody will even look at you twice.
Janitor outfit might be good, wear some overalls and take a mop in with you and nobody will even look at you twice.
Take a book. A long book. And some more books. You will have long periods of waiting. Some people have more waiting than others, but everyone waits at least a day or so, and everytime there is a point of law or similar, you are asked to leave the court room and wait some more.
re: valuables; at the court I went to they only have lockers big enough for wallet, keys, phone etc. If you have a bag, you'll have to take it into the court room with you and keep it under your chair.
Remember to turn your phone off. Off off, not silent. Judges go ballistic if anyone has a phone on and that tell-tale "dit dit dit" happens on the recording equipment.
Also, whilst you are on Jury service your time is not your own. It's a subtle yet significant loss of independence that really hit me, but may not hit others. You live by the court's clock, and the Judge makes every decision for you - including if you should cancel any holidays or similar!
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We had two "problem" jurors. One was discharged for reasons unknown - but he seemed like a genuine, upstanding guy. The other was a total bum-clown who even asked the rest of us to just return a guilty verdict ASAP so we can gtfo asap. He also said we should deliberate throughout the case so we don't have to have any discussion at the end. He was so annoying in so many ways, and he never, ever thought of anyone but himself and how his life had been so rudely interrupted by the trial. It took a lot of restraint from my part to not hit him on many occasions.
However, jury service itself was fascinating. The courts are fascinating. The barristers, Judge, usher, court clerk and staff are amazing. My faith in the Justice system has been replenished, and it has never been more clear to me than the weakest link in the justice system is the Jury because of the idiots like that above that don't give a rats bum about it, but continue to complain that the system is failing. (Yeah he did this, too.)
The personalities you'll see in the court room will be from all walks of life. Meeting the other jurors was great - they will be people you'd probably not meet in any other circumstance because you are from such different demographics.
I learnt a lot about myself, too throughout the case. Things were put into perspective, and the deliberations that were very intense and lasted several days taught my a lot about dealing with tough situations in discussions etc.
Lost 16 weeks of my life. Lost quite a bit of money because my employer wouldn't pay me and the courts limit compensation. Extremely testing at times, and very emotional too. But absolutely worth it.
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Soldato
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Thanks for the responses about phone / books 
Tomorrow is induction for all of us jurors then it's day-by-day after that on whether I go in or not. Have to ring a hotline before each day to hear a recorded message on who is selected.
Tomorrow is induction for all of us jurors then it's day-by-day after that on whether I go in or not. Have to ring a hotline before each day to hear a recorded message on who is selected.
You'll be called again in about a years time... and then you wont be able to say no.
I'd have to be sent out the midlands so might be more trouble than it's worth.
A random question, what if you run your own business and the day the event takes place (a yearly event) is on a date where you are selected for jury service?
It hasn't happened to me, but knowing my luck it will when it's due to take place
It hasn't happened to me, but knowing my luck it will when it's due to take place
Isn't that illegal??
No, the amount of money paid on Jury service is standard, they won't match your salary if its more than that and your employer isn't obliged to pay you for the service unless its reflected in your contract.
A random question, what if you run your own business and the day the event takes place (a yearly event) is on a date where you are selected for jury service?
It hasn't happened to me, but knowing my luck it will when it's due to take place
You can ask to be deferred once. You can also be excused if you can show its a critical period for the business, if you are its likely you will be called back later.
The charge was conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, which they did to the sums of millions upon millions, but the nasty stuff was to do with the coercion of people involved to all sing from the same hymn sheet - they didn't exactly ask nicely. Attempts were made on the lives of some of those involved, and their families.
A random question, what if you run your own business and the day the event takes place (a yearly event) is on a date where you are selected for jury service?
It hasn't happened to me, but knowing my luck it will when it's due to take place
You can make your case to the summoning people, but you can also (if asked to serve on a long case) make your case to the judge. Anyone who was self employed was excused in our case.
Important dates were honoured. Someone ran the marathon, so court did not sit on the Monday. Someone else needed to sit an exam on a different date, that too was honoured and another suffered a bereavement and so court did not sit for the remainder of that week.