[Archived] Jury Service

[Tom]

So I am soon to embark on a stint of Jury Duty, has anyone any experiences of this? I've been told it will liekly be the most boring 2 weeks of my life

[stuwilky]

I did it a few years ago and the other half late last year.

An absolute farce. After serving it you will understand why people are on remand for so long. I'd like a job where if I finish a task after 12noon on a Thursday I don't get to start a new one until Monday - for that is the lot of a Crown Court Judge. Ensure you have a decent supply of good books, and ability to make short notice arrangements for extended lunch breaks due to "technicalities" (usually a double booking from one of the briefs!)

The bits in court are occasionally interesting though.

[Ozz]

I would not get too excited, chances are you'll not get into the final 12. Unless of course you already are. In which case Stu sums it up fairly neatly.

[SamTheShrew]

I did it last summer - massively boring. I ended up with a loft conversion scam where I had to sit through 22 witnesses of exactly the same documentation!

take books to read, mp3 player etc.

the hours you actually spend in the court room during the day are minimal, no wonder the cases take so long to get settled

[speeeeeeedie]

I did it years ago and loved it. I found it really interesting and was in court everyday for the full 2 weeks. I'm sure that it can get boring if you don't get a case and are stuck in the jury room all day.

My brother did it not too long ago and also enjoyed it.

[Jimbo]

I did it about 4 years ago at the Old Bailey - which was a bit of a double edge sword - interesting cases, but there's a likelyhood of them going on for a while - The first case I got called up for was expected to run for 5 weeks and I was off on holiday before it was expected to end - luckily the judge let me off that one - I then got called up for another that was expected to run for 3 weeks. I decided not to ask to be let off that one - Spent the next 3 1/2 weeks on a murder trial - very interesting - with the added benefit of never being there more than half the time as we were forever being sent out/home because of legal arguments going on, which we weren't allowed to be privy to. We weren't stuck in the jury room much, they knew what cases were required for the day so got the ballots out the was fairly early and sent you home if no longer required. I was there 3 days before being selected for the second trial which I finally sat on. There were two sets of Jurors that had been there for months - both complex fraud cases that they reckoned were as boring as sin.

If I was called up again I'd be happy to do it - esp. at the Bailey - My missus has done it twice and was never selected for a trial - hated it.

I must say it was very satisfying, saying Guilty, when asked if we had made a decision by the Judge.

[Tom]

Cheers chaps, I think i'll go expedting the worst and may be pleasantly surprised.

Annoying thing is we have an office right next to court near enough but I doubt I'll be able to go even when nothing is going on

[ebenrocks]

Haha come on guys! its not so bad!

I am a court usher at a Crown Court. We do try and cut back the waiting around top the bare minimum, but its very difficult. I'm sure you'll appreciate that everything has to be done totally meticulously in order to make the proceedings fair. Therefore you will often get sent home, or sent away for a while in order for legal argument to take place. But the judges i work with do always try and keep that to a bare minimum as they know how frustrating it can be.

Yno what, if anything its an experience. Its not going to be a pleasant one given the nature of what you're having to do, but an experience none the less.

If you have any questions about how things work at court feel free to ask away

[Rovermatt]

I was sitting in on the swearing in of a jury at Belfast Crown Court about 18 months. One of the jurors got sent home because she claimed to recognise a member of the accused's family from her local area. I'm not saying you should do this, I'm just putting it out there...

[ebenrocks]

i've heard every excuse under the sun... 'It goes against my moral beliefs to sit on a jury' 'Only god can judge people' 'i have very strong political views and wouldnt give the person a fair trial' people will try anything

[Guest guillaume]

For as long as I have lived in the uk I've not been asked. And I want to. How likely is it to be asked?

[G Somerset Rover]

Whatever you do TCO just try not to adopt the approach that Jez took to Jury Service on the Peep Show!

[ABBEY]

tco? why would you want to go in the office in between? couldnt think of anything worse ? lol

[Tom]

Cause at least I could take my laptop in there abbey. As it is I'm stuck with just my phone for company

way off topic but are you based out of the tec think I passed you on the yard last week

[ebenrocks]

TCO, my court has the facillities for the jurors to bring laptops, and there is free internet access as well.

Maybe give the court a call tomorrow and find out what they have to keep you entertained, because once you're in the pool, you wont be allowed to leave the court