Juror Selection

[SIRandyraven]

http://www.dailymail....-said-I-bothered.html

Should the way Juror are selected be overhauled ?

I think people should be given the option of doing Juror service or not and have to sit a simple IQ test/common sense test if they do opt to do it.

I know If I was on trial , I would at least want someone with a little bit of common sense in the Juror and who wanted to be there.

[joko]

yes, they should do similar tests to those some companies use on their applicants...psychological profile type ones, where there is no right or wrong answers, but analysis.

obviously they are open to people faking answers, but then that in itself says a lot and show that perhaps they should not be jurors as they may just go along with others to speed things up

[Messi_Ten]

I agree with her. Look at the judge in the article. Who wants to sit all day and look at a prat dressed like that?

[maggiebee]

One of the comments on the article was:

""Can't be bothered and you can't make me" - just imagine what would have happened if my Granddad said that on his way to Dunkirk. Pity the do gooders weren't around then. I hope the person sending her benefits hasn't got the same attitude!"

I echo this sentiment.

[grasscarp]

Juries can be a strange mixture of people in my experience. e.g."I have a son" therefore I am not going to see this young man get sentenced and a man with an accounting background that was asking such good questions that the judge made a comment - I am getting better questions from the jury than the barristers! I suppose the fact that they are such a random cross section is the reason that it kind of works (usually)

[SIRandyraven]

Well I hope I never get called up.
So far I have been lucky.
Do you get 100% compensation for lost earnings ?

[Messi_Ten]

The judge and his wig wearing mates are probably on £100k+ a year. The woman couldn't afford the bus fare, she actually lives in the real world.

[FredPuli43]

Ah, but Messi_10, the picture shows the judge in his formal QC's attire. We've been spared a sight of the knee breeches, stockings, and gilt-buckled shoes that go with it. In court he wears a short wig and what looks like a dressing gown. Not at all prattish ! (?)
Bit surprising how lenient the judge was. I suppose that he was thinking of a fine, which was pointless, and that she hadn't caused the trial to be abandoned.
In the old days, before the challenging of jurors was abolished, jurors were commonly challenged by counsel because the juror looked unlikely to understand, particularly if the juror couldn't read the oath before a case with many documents. No reason had to be given; defence counsel just said "Challenge!"

[tonyav]

I got called up in 1998, and where i worked didn't pay me, but you can claim a part of your earnings from the court, i was on jury service for two weeks and my second week was whitsun week from which i would have been on a weeks holiday from work ( shutdown week). Whilst on jury duty found out i was one of only a few that wasn't getting paid by my employers ( cost me a fortune ) so if i were to be called up again i would do my up most to get out of it.

[robert551069]

I had to do 2 week's jury service and a small fortune must have been spent on prosecuting a man who had stolen a ring valued at £40,yes,£40.
My schoolteacher wife had waste 14 days also on the case of a jealous jilted boyfriend who set his ex-girlfriend's car on fire.
In my opinion, trials by jury should not be used for such cases