Jury Service a very unawanted massive cost
Discussion
Just received a Jury Summons, and after reading the notes supplied with the summons and also taking a looking at the website it looks to me that I stand to loose nearly 2K in lost earnings and there's not a thing I can do about it.
Am I wrong? I suspect this is going to penalise me far more than anybody I might end up trying. Yes I can claim for loss of earning but the forms seem to suggest a maximum of 56.96 a day, that won’t cover my mortgage let alone feed me.
I'm not happy; I've thought about asking to be excused but somehow don't believe it will be considered sympathetically
The front of the summons say I can be fined up to £1000 if I don’t attend, this is tempting as its half of what I’m going to loose if I do attend.
Not sure what I’m asking really, just very frustrated and letting of steam, but if anyone does know anything about Jury Service I’d be happy to hear from them
Cheers
Am I wrong? I suspect this is going to penalise me far more than anybody I might end up trying. Yes I can claim for loss of earning but the forms seem to suggest a maximum of 56.96 a day, that won’t cover my mortgage let alone feed me.
I'm not happy; I've thought about asking to be excused but somehow don't believe it will be considered sympathetically
The front of the summons say I can be fined up to £1000 if I don’t attend, this is tempting as its half of what I’m going to loose if I do attend.
Not sure what I’m asking really, just very frustrated and letting of steam, but if anyone does know anything about Jury Service I’d be happy to hear from them
Cheers
Not eligible for Jury Service:
1. Professional people i.e. Coroners, Barristers, Solicitors, priosn/police officers, nuns and members of the religious Orders.
2. In past 10 years has served custodial sentence or community service order or in past 5 years been placed on probation.
3 Non resident.
4.Incapacity - mental illness, physical disability or limited understanding of the English language so according to Judge not capable of effectively acting as Juror.
Those that may be excused:
Automatic - Peers, MP's, HM Forces.
Anyone previously done Jury Service and excused for future
Reasons of illness, deafness, blindness, pregnancy (advise strongly against trying this), holidays plans, sole trader or connected to defendant.
General inconvienance is not enough.
Suggested if exemption sought letter should be sent in advance seeking exemption which if granted does not preclude being called in the future. Or, go to Court on day and advise Court official you are claiming exemption. Court will then decide.
My notes (most pertinent) mention small allowances paid and most Jurors who are in business can expect to suffer financial loss......
So, consider that letter outlining how the financial loss will effect your life etc.
but be prepared to have some evidence to back up.
dvd
1. Professional people i.e. Coroners, Barristers, Solicitors, priosn/police officers, nuns and members of the religious Orders.
2. In past 10 years has served custodial sentence or community service order or in past 5 years been placed on probation.
3 Non resident.
4.Incapacity - mental illness, physical disability or limited understanding of the English language so according to Judge not capable of effectively acting as Juror.
Those that may be excused:
Automatic - Peers, MP's, HM Forces.
Anyone previously done Jury Service and excused for future
Reasons of illness, deafness, blindness, pregnancy (advise strongly against trying this), holidays plans, sole trader or connected to defendant.
General inconvienance is not enough.
Suggested if exemption sought letter should be sent in advance seeking exemption which if granted does not preclude being called in the future. Or, go to Court on day and advise Court official you are claiming exemption. Court will then decide.
My notes (most pertinent) mention small allowances paid and most Jurors who are in business can expect to suffer financial loss......
So, consider that letter outlining how the financial loss will effect your life etc.
but be prepared to have some evidence to back up.
dvd
DVD
This sort of confirms my fears, I can't really say this is a inconvenience, it is, but so are lots of other things, it's the financial hardship that's hard to swallow. Doing the service is fine but having to pay to do it just seems plain unfair and unreasonable.
Its sooo annoying! Once again the legal system seems to be punishing the average law abiding citizen.
This sort of confirms my fears, I can't really say this is a inconvenience, it is, but so are lots of other things, it's the financial hardship that's hard to swallow. Doing the service is fine but having to pay to do it just seems plain unfair and unreasonable.
Its sooo annoying! Once again the legal system seems to be punishing the average law abiding citizen.
Last time I was called for Jury Service the Clerk was happy to excuse anyone in your situation. He also excused a guy whose wife was just about to go into labour and another couple of people for other non-standard reasons.
He did say that other Clerks were not so accommodating, so it'll probably be just down to luck on the day. If they refuse to excuse you and you get called just make sure you tell them you think all cops are liars and that you hate them all - a guy was excused when he said that!
He did say that other Clerks were not so accommodating, so it'll probably be just down to luck on the day. If they refuse to excuse you and you get called just make sure you tell them you think all cops are liars and that you hate them all - a guy was excused when he said that!
Dwight VanDriver said:Not any more, DVD. Our wonderful government in its infinite wisdom decided that it would be a good idea for people like lawyers and policemen to serve on juries. The old wisdom that other jurors might be unduly swayed by our views as officers of the court or as police officers has been dismissed as nonsense by our wise leader.
Not eligible for Jury Service:
1. Professional people i.e. Coroners, Barristers, Solicitors, priosn/police officers, nuns and members of the religious Orders.
Eligibility details here (note misspelling of eligibility in URL):
www.cjsonline.gov.uk/juror/summoning/elegibility/index.html
www.cjsonline.gov.uk/juror/summoning/elegibility/index.html
furry dice said:
Just received a Jury Summons, and after reading the notes supplied with the summons and also taking a looking at the website it looks to me that I stand to loose nearly 2K in lost earnings and there's not a thing I can do about it.
Are you self employed - in which case you do stand to lose out, but could claim expemption as noted elsewhere.
If you're an employee, then surely *most* employers pay you as normal? Mine certainly does (and they're not otherwise overly generous), and my wife recently did jury service and was paid as normal, although it was made clear to her that if they were dismissed for the day (which happened on the first 2 days) then she was expected to turn up for work. She then did one case which took 3 days in court, and was then told she wasn't required for the second week.
deva link said:
Just received a Jury Summons, and after reading the notes supplied with the summons and also taking a looking at the website it looks to me that I stand to loose nearly 2K in lost earnings and there's not a thing I can do about it.
Are you self employed - in which case you do stand to lose out, but could claim expemption as noted elsewhere.
If you're an employee, then surely *most* employers pay you as normal? Mine certainly does (and they're not otherwise overly generous), and my wife recently did jury service and was paid as normal, although it was made clear to her that if they were dismissed for the day (which happened on the first 2 days) then she was expected to turn up for work. She then did one case which took 3 days in court, and was then told she wasn't required for the second week.
I'm employed in my own firm and the cost of jury service could well bankrupt me otherwise it would have to be my 2 weeks holiday. Here's hoping I can avoid being called upon. Besides my brother is a JP and the system would probably break down if we both wanted to hang them
As far as I am aware, your company should pay your wages as normal, although I dont think that they are forced to pay your wages.
The Emplyment Relations Act 2004 gives protection for employees who suffer detriment to their job if they are called away on jury service, so you wont be sacked.
What I would do is speak to my immediate manager, as I am pretty sure that if your employer writes a letter to say how much you are needed during that period, that you can defer jury service for up to a year. That way, you are giving your employer the most notice possible, and get them on your side. From what I have heard, to get the 12 jurors 24 are actually called, so I would have thought it would make sense if someone had a good reason, they would have adequate backup.
The backup plan for that is to book the first day off with your employer, then when the case is called and they tell the group of jurors the name of the defendant, if you know him in any way you are not allowed to be part of their case.
You *might* know him, or at least be not sure enough about whether you do to give someone else a chance *if* you are one of the 12 of 24 who are chosen at random.
The Emplyment Relations Act 2004 gives protection for employees who suffer detriment to their job if they are called away on jury service, so you wont be sacked.
What I would do is speak to my immediate manager, as I am pretty sure that if your employer writes a letter to say how much you are needed during that period, that you can defer jury service for up to a year. That way, you are giving your employer the most notice possible, and get them on your side. From what I have heard, to get the 12 jurors 24 are actually called, so I would have thought it would make sense if someone had a good reason, they would have adequate backup.
The backup plan for that is to book the first day off with your employer, then when the case is called and they tell the group of jurors the name of the defendant, if you know him in any way you are not allowed to be part of their case.
You *might* know him, or at least be not sure enough about whether you do to give someone else a chance *if* you are one of the 12 of 24 who are chosen at random.
paulhol said:Very likely to get you execused. Equally likely to get you arrested.
tell them you'd be happy to do it, and ask them if the suspect is black. you hate black people
Just say you look forward to doing your civic duty as you believe too many people are found not guilty because of wooly-minding thinking from namby-pamby jurors.
Streaky
The question is, I suppose, how likely is the clerk of Reading County Court going to give me exemption on the grounds of being self employed and therefore financial hardship, the last thing I want to do is try for exemption and end up with a deferral which will probably arrive at an even worse time.
The trouble is I just don’t trust the system to be reasonable with me as its only Joe Public they have any power over, plainly the scroats who actually appear in the dock don’t give a sh*t (generalisation I know but that’s the way I feel). So I’ll be made to attend and be a good boy effectively paying a 2K fine and I bet who ever may end up in court will even if convicted walk away after a few days and a much smaller fine. Its all just so bl**dy unjust.
The trouble is I just don’t trust the system to be reasonable with me as its only Joe Public they have any power over, plainly the scroats who actually appear in the dock don’t give a sh*t (generalisation I know but that’s the way I feel). So I’ll be made to attend and be a good boy effectively paying a 2K fine and I bet who ever may end up in court will even if convicted walk away after a few days and a much smaller fine. Its all just so bl**dy unjust.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff