I've been called up for jury service. Has anyone been on a jury? I don't know what to expect really, just wondered if anyone had been on one and had any tips/advice? Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
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Never have myself, but I heard they are boring to be on, then when your deliberating arguments galore

Hope it's something gritty, not just some boring case Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I hope it's something interesting, not looking forward to it if it involves kids. Then again from what I've been reading I might be sat in a jury room for hours and hours waiting to get called up for a case. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
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Done it many years years ago in a Coroners court. One of the two cases I sat on was quite distressing. At times it gets boring and you can find yourself struggling to stay awake. Interesting all the same though. Audi A4 Avant 2.0 tdi 05 Liquid Blue
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The first one is nice to see how the system works, and all the flaws etc, and why people get let off, and insignificant penalties

BUT, you will also see its a hugely inneficient way of doing things. Having 100 people sat in a room, while 13 people are selected for a jury

I have been called 3 times in 6 years, but only sat on 1 jury, twice as an employee, once as self employed, just this week
Can't book in any work for Monday, so call Sunday night to find if you are needed. I wasn't, call again Monday night, to be told to go in at 2pm on Tuesday
Can't book in my work for Tuesday or Wednesday now, to head to court at 2pm, to be told we are no longer needed

So I lost out on 3 days work, for absolutely nothing

Missus did it last year , 6 week trial she enjoyed it but its a lot of waiting about , some days not required and you ring a number at night to see if you are needed next day .
Minor prob was that her employer (council) did not pay her as they made an error thinking the courts had paid her (soon sorted) , elected as foreman on last day .
As expected she didn't tell me what it was about . FL2 gone now in 2016 Discovery 4 Loire Blue .

Done it twice now. Both times a lot of sitting around and waiting and very uninteresting cases.

Does open your eyes to exactly how much money is wasted. Did one case and after the 3rd day it was thrown out because one of the jurers had a tenious link with the occused

I have done jury service twice. Both times there is a lot of waiting. I was fortunate to have relatively short but interesting trials only lasting less than a week. I was elected foreman on the first occasion as I was the last person to say no! It must be quite gruelling if you sit on a long case such as the Hillsborough jury for over 2 years or a tedious complex financial crime trial. - 2007(57) XS Auto, Rimini Red, Alpaca Leather.
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My wife was a probation officer and her view is that Juries are quite unrepresentative of the population since a lot of professional people and self employed find ways of getting out of it. She also said that you have a better chance of getting a not guilty verdict with a Jury.
A friend of mine who was on one case was appalled by the way that the deliberation was carried out with a couple of people saying "what verdict do we have to pass so that we can get out of here soonest?" 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
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You have to prove guilt "beyond all reasonable doubt"

If you are not 100% convinced, how can they be guilty

Clever wording from solicitors gets people out of trouble

Thanks everyone from what I can gather from you guys and other sources I need to take a book to keep me busy as no doubt there will be a lot of boredom. Plus wear something comfy. I'm not being called up until June, but already have a bus and train route sorted. I have to go to Bradford but parking is a nightmare but the court is next to the main bus and train station so I'll use public transport for the first time in years. It could be quite an experience. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
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can you not say no? as Mikey says, been self employed and about all day to see if you are needed loses you money Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I could defer the summons (for example if I have a holiday booked)but then they will call me again within 1 year and I have no excuses to get out of it unless I'm medically unfit. So I figured I might as well just do it in June. Wage wise if I'm called for a full day I can claim up to 64 quid a day in lost wages which covers my salaried day wage. Black MY2013 SD4 GS Auto, Wood Company Armrest, Freel2 sticker.
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I sat on a case (luckily only the one) a few years ago at St Albans crown court. Tips are:
1. Take a book as you may hang about for days on end
2. Do not under any circulstances take your mobile phone into the court room (they normally collect them before you go in but people have been known to hide them)
3. Don't talk about the case or try googling it at home

The expenses are quite generous so provided your case doesn't go on too long it's not onerous. Of course, you can't tell in advance!

I found the expenses poor. They won't pay for car parking or driving yourself, if there is public transport available and convenient
Admittedly, we did get taken to a local hotel, and fed for lunch
And there is a max limit you can claim per day. I found I lost a little less than half my days wage/salary, though the court payment may take into account PAYE/NI contributions


But being self employed, you can't book any work in, and everything is last minute, before you find anything out. I normally have work all day, every day. Last week, I ended up working only 1 day
And being self employed, you keep your income and liabilities to a minimum, so you can't even claim what you actually earn in a day...