I Got The Call Yesterday.........

[10ClarionSt]

....jury service. I don't fancy it at all. Has anyone done it? I should think a few on here have.

[jno]

I know. What's the alternative - to be tried by the unemployed?

[hc4361]

I reckon that's why they've raised the maximum age of jurors to 75 - no loss of earnings to pay to the retired

[SIRandyraven]

£65 a day max for 10 days lol
Where can I get a BNP or English Defence League logo shirt ?
That's what I will wear on the first day....spell my name incorrectly .....splash some whisky on my shirt prior .....and have a porn magazine rolled up u for my arm .....or simply tell them I support Corbyn ha ha ha
Hopefully that will get me sent home

[hc4361]

No travel expenses either, if they are made to use their free bus passes :D

[jno]

or of course it may get you locked up...

[jno]

not sure I'd want to be tried by the AB retirees, hc4361. Hangers and floggers the lot of them.

[marval]

Yes, I have done it. I did it in the eighties at the Old Bailey, and I did it last week. Three days at Aylesbury and one day at Amersham. Most of our time was spent sitting around. We just had a day and a half on a short trial.
The only problem I had was getting to the courts from Milton Keynes.
The trouble with ours was we were on call, so we had to wait each day for a text between half four and half five to tell us if we were wanted. The text then told us which court and what time to be there.

I met some nice people though.

[hc4361]

jno, agreed, and God help the defendant if he is anything other than pink English, Welsh or Scottish.

[SIRandyraven]

But seriously , why should you be out of pocket via earnings ?
Seems the jury is being punished.
I'm between jobs at the moment , so it would not matter (taking a couple of years off), but my last earnings were over £68k a year and I'm f**ed if I would accept £65 a day for 10 days as compensation. I would use every trick available to get out of it.

[Errrrrr]

er are you going to peel them then? when i saw your post i was sympathetic but you are telling fibs. its you on trial isn't it?

[SIRandyraven]

Defendant - Welsh = Guilty , Even the judge if he was Welsh lol

[SIRandyraven]

That's a damned good idea dive buddy ...either way I'm being fu**ed over :-)

I suppose if you are self em-loved you can get insurance against doing jury service ?

P.S. Serving police officers can also be called up.
I was amazed at that, but I know someone who was and in the police.
Funny enough he never got selected and just got sent home each day.

[SIRandyraven]

Employed ....not em-loved .

So glad this backwards forum don't allow edit function.
Still give it another 10 years and it might vtchup with the 90s

[hc4361]

Yes, indeed, police officers could not do jury service until 2004, then the law changed.

[campbellking]

Yes, did it some years ago, only got through all the prosecution evidence in which the only sober witness was the one-eyed barman who stated he couldn't swear to what had happened. Judge said there was no point in even listening to the defence evidence as there was no way we could convict the defendant on the basis of what had been presented, and instructed us to find him not guilty. Lots of time sitting around out of court whilst points of law were debated, and not the most thrilling time of my life. Got called up again, but it clashed with university exams, so was excused from that one.

[silliemillie]

It's very hard to get out of. I tried to as, like you, didn't really want to. I was working in the legal system at the time but that didn't let me off.

I did enjoy it once I was there on a trial but lots of boring sitting around waiting to be called.

They can't make you do more than 2 weeks at a time unless you agree. Those people on these long trials you hear about must have agreed to do longer, the Courts know if a case is expected to go on a long time.

[Ellipsis]

First time I was called I was self-employed, my wife was on a career break so I was the sole breadwinner, and we weren't claiming anything other than child benefit - so, as you might imagine, I really did not want to give up salary to do it. I was forced to, and it was a great experience.

Ironically a few months later my wife was called up and she got out of it on the basis that she was bringing up a young family - the one my self-employed income was supporting when I was made to do it!

Then about ten years later I was called again, This time I went more willingly and it was a crap experience. I turned up each day for two weeks and didn't hear a single case.

So my impression of the whole process is that it's a bit crap, inefficient and hit-and-miss; but, if you can get on a good and short case, it can be worthwhile.

[ivor4781]

https://www.gov.uk/jury-service/overview