Oh Noooooo..jury service !

[murraymints]

Just been served citation to attend court 1 at the high court end of July !!! always managed to get out of this as was a civil servant in a legal Dept...hope I do not get picked as this court only deals with serious high profile crime..do not think I want to play God with someone elses life ! Especially if it drags on for a time....wonder what serious contageous disease I can catch ??? Any one been on a jury at a high court before ?

[ELVIS68]

I've been twice, got dirty looks and eyeballed constantly both times, weren't having any of that nonsense, Guilty!

[mrsweasley]

I escaped with Doctors letter 28 years ago, depression, never been called since, yet friend and her daughter have both done it in last 5 years.

[Georgiesmum]

Ive done jury service and i really enjoyed it.
My son has never been called but says he would love to do it.

[Arksided]

PMSL laughing at the Slackbladder clip, Nice one Nibble :-)

I don't think I'd enjoy Jury Duty either but think it would be interesting... depending on the case.

[marval]

I did jury service at The Old Bailey, it was very interesting.

[jno]

it's not something to enjoy, it's something to do if you want to keep British justice going. Just ask yourself who you'd rather be judged by.

http://www.guardian.c...ury-libel?INTCMP=SRCH

[beegeebee]

This is what's known as being a member of 'Society'. You have to do your duty and when you get there, assuming you are called, just decide on what you hear not what you think you hear. The problem is always memory recall when in the Jury room. Been twice and appreciated the experience but now, much too old!!

[jno]

you're probably younger than most judges, beegeebee!

[tonyav]

When I dd Jury service, we were given note paper and pencils ( obviously to make notes of any details that you other wise might forget ).

[tonyav]

did ^^^

[FredPuli43]

Is it literally at the High Court? if so, it'll be a libel case as the High Court only tries civil cases and only libel trials still have juries (and that is due to end).

Being a law student won't get you out of jury service. I know a judge who served on a jury; the rules were changed some years ago. Nor will claiming to know the defendant help. You'll just be excused for that trial and still have to see out your service waiting for a case which you can try.

[mike11111]

I have never been summoned for jury service but my father was regularly called upon in the 50s and 60s. He came back from one trial rather subdued. When pressed he said that the man whose case he had been hearing was obviously guilty but he could never forget the look on the defendant's face when the judge donned the black cap and pronounced sentence of death.

[cathfromsaron]

you may not be called and that is twice a boring!

[welshlibranr]

I was on Jury Service a few years ago, enjoyed it on the whole, was only called for one case, the evidence against the guy was overwhelming, he had walked into a nightclub wearing a cowboy costume, in his local neighbourhood brandishing a sawn offshotgun! although he fired the gun, nobody was hurt! he was identified by numerous witnesses, and still protested his inocence! we all agreed on a guilty verdict, so it wasn' t too stressful.......lol............

[bensmum]

I've just finished jury service (not at high court though) and I found it interesting once I was selected but the waiting around was tedious to say the least. I was on 3 short cases but some people only got selected once in the 2 weeks - literally luck of the draw once you're there.

[askyourgran]

Like you murray I got out of it as a civil servant. I had to attend different courts as part of my job then, and I've never been called for jury service since. Mr Ask has served twice, one trial lasting for two weeks. I found court work interesting.

[murraymints]

Today is the day..getting ready to go into town...what DOES one wear in court ?..settled for black subdued ensemble with nice sensible shoes...hope I don't get picked..will report back later !!!

[excelsior-1]

good luck with it.
just stay calm - and you'll do fine.

i envy you . i'd love to be selected.

[murraymints]

well..not selected for that one...a gruesome murder with three accused.. trial to go on for estimated 3 weeks !..had nightmares all night ..that was just listening to the charge...have to call back later to see if needed tomorrow...