Jury service

[barb]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all well.

Just wondered if anyone else has done Jury service, I have just completed mine and can honestly say I wouldn't want to do that again any time soon.

Don't get me wrong, the whole experience was fascinating and I found the dynamics of the trial and court very interesting but found having to make a decision of someone's fate very uncomfortable, particularly as we had no physical evidence and it boiled down to 2 people's words against each other!!!

Although the way we deliberated and the diversity of the jury has restored faith somewhat in the justice system as being fair.
Definitely an experience to remember.

 

[Crazyface]

I loved it!!!

 

[pbrown7582]

mine was a farce reported to court everyday for 2 weeks sat around reading a paper until lunchtime and was then sent home a repetitive story or no shows and last minute plead changes.
The actual only time I got into a court was the initial welcome talk.

 

[Rooter]

Touch wood, never been asked. My sister in law had it recently and it went on for 7 weeks... I actually could not cope with that!

 

[Odvan]

mine was a farce reported to court everyday for 2 weeks sat around reading a paper until lunchtime and was then sent home a repetitive story or no shows and last minute plead changes.
The actual only time I got into a court was the initial welcome talk.

I'm sitting here thinking that would suit me perfectly.... smacks of two weeks worth of afternoon golf!

 

[Smiffy]

mine was a farce reported to court everyday for 2 weeks sat around reading a paper until lunchtime and was then sent home

Very similar to my experience.
Spent the first week reading papers and sitting there getting bored stiff, being sent home at various times of the day.
Finally got put on a case, some thicko had stolen a pushbike that had been set up by the local plod for a sting.
Absolute waste of time and money.
How did a case like that get to crown court?????

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I've been called twice, and selected once. The one I was selected for lasted all of 3 hours. Case dismissed due to the witness clearly lying through her teeth, she was guilty of the crime and was making up stories to put the blame on someone else.

How it ever got to court amazes me.

 

[USER1999]

I have never been called, and neither has my wife. Not sure if I want to be either.

 

[upsidedown]

Done it and enjoyed it.

Case lasted two days and jury was split so judge let us go for majority verdict, 10-2 in the end.

 

[davemc1]

Similar tale here, sat around most of the mornings doing nothing, luckily Cheltenham was on at the time so the afternoons where more bearable. Then got two half day cases, one being a parking offence??? The other more sinister, but both obviously cut and dried.
Plus it was only on a Friday we got to leave early. Wouldn't want to go through that again!

 

[MegaSteve]

Been there done that hopefully never again...

Actually left me questioning 'the system'...

 

[Imurg]

What would happen if I, as a self-employed ADI, got called..?
If I had to take 7-8 weeks off I'd have to start the business from scratch again....

 

[MegaSteve]

What would happen if I, as a self-employed ADI, got called..?
If I had to take 7-8 weeks off I'd have to start the business from scratch again....

My brother [also a self-employed ADI] has been excused on a couple of occasions now...

7-8 weeks is nothing I know a young lady who did almost two years... Now been excused for life...

 

[pbrown7582]

What would happen if I, as a self-employed ADI, got called..?
If I had to take 7-8 weeks off I'd have to start the business from scratch again....

I assume you get the same claims forms for expenses etc as everyone else but wether they would consider not selecting you as the harm toi your business is potentially critical?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all well.

Just wondered if anyone else has done Jury service, I have just completed mine and can honestly say I wouldn't want to do that again any time soon.

Don't get me wrong, the whole experience was fascinating and I found the dynamics of the trial and court very interesting but found having to make a decision of someone's fate very uncomfortable, particularly as we had no physical evidence and it boiled down to 2 people's words against each other!!!

Although the way we deliberated and the diversity of the jury has restored faith somewhat in the justice system as being fair.
Definitely an experience to remember.

Mine was very similar to this. Really enjoyed the whole experience though, would like to be called up again.

 

[Duckster]

What would happen if I, as a self-employed ADI, got called..?
If I had to take 7-8 weeks off I'd have to start the business from scratch again....

When I did jury service they were picking the jury for the Owen Oyston trial out of selected pool of jurors. The first thing they did was to see if there were people who could afford to take off 3 months (possible length of the trial) then chose the jury from those as there was a surprising amount of people who could. They never mentioned what would happen if there wasn't a large enough pool of people who could take that amount of time off, can they simply force you to do it?

Once they'd been picked, they were off to their own court room and holding area, never saw them again.

The rest of us just did the normal 2 weeks. I managed to get picked for 3 different trials in that time.

 

[Liverbirdie]

mine was a farce reported to court everyday for 2 weeks sat around reading a paper until lunchtime and was then sent home a repetitive story or no shows and last minute plead changes.
The actual only time I got into a court was the initial welcome talk.

So - were you found guilty of crimes against fashion, or did you get off on a technicality?

 

[Tarkus1212]

I did my two weeks many moons ago but thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I even got to be Foreman of the Jury once. I had three trials - 2 not guilty, 1 guilty - two weeks off work (no mobile phones in those days), and made money with the expenses. The process proved to me that the jury system does work and I'd be happy to be called up again.

 

[Fromtherough]

I loved it. Got called up for 2 cases over the two weeks. 1 lasted 3 days and the other 4 days. Luckily neither case was anything gruesome/sickening. Very informative but does make you wonder how much of a game it all is to those other than the defendants. Early finishes on days I wasn't required which again I enjoyed!

I was lucky. My employer was paying me while I was there. Some have to claim these back and the daily allowance isn't great from memory. Imagine a lot of people lose money by attending.

 

[road2ruin]

I have been called up twice now.

First time was about 10 years ago when I was working for a company. Was similar to the experiences above, did the first week which involved sitting around and going at lunchtime before being told on the Friday that actually there wasn't that much crime and the new jurors coming in on Monday would be enough so anyone not on a case would not be required for the 2nd week. Needless to say that I didn't inform work and had a week off work.

Second time was about 6 months ago, I am now self employed and run my own business. I wrote back saying that I wouldn't be able to take part as it had the potential to ruin my business and I was then excused.