called for jury service
Discussion
Well after all these years of not being called i now have been.
My only issue is i dont see how i can easily do it. I have 3 full time staff (building trade) who while being decent cant really be left alone for 10 days.
Yes i have been on holiday before but the work i leave them is:
1. organised so its easy work (which doesnt pay a lot but keeps them busy).
2. accepted that i am quite literally keeping them in work to cover their costs.
I also haven't left these lads before, so its an unknown. I am not planning on leaving them anytime soon regardless of this.
I dont suppose 'its going to cost me a few grand' is an excuse.
So am i likely to be there all day every day?
I am also worried id be put on some case which could last weeks or months, that could cripple me.
Is that a reasonable excuse? i am guessing not from what ive heard.
My only issue is i dont see how i can easily do it. I have 3 full time staff (building trade) who while being decent cant really be left alone for 10 days.
Yes i have been on holiday before but the work i leave them is:
1. organised so its easy work (which doesnt pay a lot but keeps them busy).
2. accepted that i am quite literally keeping them in work to cover their costs.
I also haven't left these lads before, so its an unknown. I am not planning on leaving them anytime soon regardless of this.
I dont suppose 'its going to cost me a few grand' is an excuse.
So am i likely to be there all day every day?
I am also worried id be put on some case which could last weeks or months, that could cripple me.
Is that a reasonable excuse? i am guessing not from what ive heard.
I did it a few years ago (I was called up about a couple of months into my new job!). My experience was that I was selected for one trial the first week (lasted about 2 hours!) and then the second week I was picked for a couple of trials which lasted around a day each. So pretty much most of the time I was either sat at the court waiting to be called up and able to get on with a bit of work, answer emails, etc or being sent home early as there were no more trials to be selected for that day. Most people I met were in the same boat, with only one big trial running.
I quite enjoyed it and it was eye opening to see how the court system works and how poorly some of the jurors understand their role and the implications their decisions have, eg "let's just agree he's guilty and we can all go home early", etc. Also hearing some of the sentencing was interesting too - far less lenient than the media would have you believe for relatively minor (in my eyes!) offences.
Chris
I quite enjoyed it and it was eye opening to see how the court system works and how poorly some of the jurors understand their role and the implications their decisions have, eg "let's just agree he's guilty and we can all go home early", etc. Also hearing some of the sentencing was interesting too - far less lenient than the media would have you believe for relatively minor (in my eyes!) offences.
Chris
m3jappa said:
Oh i would love to actually do it, ive always wanted to and if i do end up doing it ill take it seriously.
Do you know you can ask to be deferred to another more convenient time? I would suspect you are busy all year being a builder but at least you'll have better notice of when it may ultimately take place, allowing you to prepare for it.What you'll more than likely find is that the clerk of the court is more than accepting of your circumstances. I've avoided it a few times now whilst always offering my civic duty.
First time, was when my stag do was planned, spoke to them and told them I would lose all the money and they agreed to move it. I also explained that we were particularly quiet in the beginning of January would it be possible to do it then? No problem sir.
When December came they told me the dates in the first week of January etc, I asked about if I would be tied up in a long case and they told me to go see the clerk which I did. She was fantastic, I explained that as I was self employed I'd really struggle if I got tied up in some lengthy case and she explained that as they ask for more than they need she'd weed out the people who it wouldn't suit.
In some cases they can even get you in as a stand by so you can see your staff in the morning and then get off about 2pm to see them again in the afternoon.
In the end on that one, they rang the week of xmas and said there'd been a delay in the courts and they wouldn't be starting on that date in the end, it would be a week delayed. So I was asked if I could push my two weeks back a week.
I simply politely said what if I can't? I explained I was a self employed director and had organised all my staff and business around those dates. No problem sir, if you can't you can't and no black mark against you.
As it happened, that knocks you off the register (or however they pick it at random) so I'd sort of served my duty by, not serving any duty.
TL;DR
Just be open and honest with them, they're not going to have good jurors if they're stressing that their business is failing while they're doing their civic duty.
First time, was when my stag do was planned, spoke to them and told them I would lose all the money and they agreed to move it. I also explained that we were particularly quiet in the beginning of January would it be possible to do it then? No problem sir.
When December came they told me the dates in the first week of January etc, I asked about if I would be tied up in a long case and they told me to go see the clerk which I did. She was fantastic, I explained that as I was self employed I'd really struggle if I got tied up in some lengthy case and she explained that as they ask for more than they need she'd weed out the people who it wouldn't suit.
In some cases they can even get you in as a stand by so you can see your staff in the morning and then get off about 2pm to see them again in the afternoon.
In the end on that one, they rang the week of xmas and said there'd been a delay in the courts and they wouldn't be starting on that date in the end, it would be a week delayed. So I was asked if I could push my two weeks back a week.
I simply politely said what if I can't? I explained I was a self employed director and had organised all my staff and business around those dates. No problem sir, if you can't you can't and no black mark against you.
As it happened, that knocks you off the register (or however they pick it at random) so I'd sort of served my duty by, not serving any duty.
TL;DR
Just be open and honest with them, they're not going to have good jurors if they're stressing that their business is failing while they're doing their civic duty.
I would liked to have performed jury service as I think it would have been interesting.
I say ‘would have’ as I’m now self employed and unless they happened to catch me at a time when I was between jobs/projects, there would be no way I could do it without losing a considerable amount of money for every day they required me. In my line of work, you have to collect every day of fees that you can while it’s there, as you don’t know how long the gaps between projects might be.
Prior to self employment I was employed in large organisations for 15 years, and that would have been the ideal time, but it didn’t come up at all during that time.
I guess you never know, maybe they’ll catch me at a period when I’m not working and I’ll gladly do it.
I say ‘would have’ as I’m now self employed and unless they happened to catch me at a time when I was between jobs/projects, there would be no way I could do it without losing a considerable amount of money for every day they required me. In my line of work, you have to collect every day of fees that you can while it’s there, as you don’t know how long the gaps between projects might be.
Prior to self employment I was employed in large organisations for 15 years, and that would have been the ideal time, but it didn’t come up at all during that time.
I guess you never know, maybe they’ll catch me at a period when I’m not working and I’ll gladly do it.
To the OP
I was called twice very quickly, first time I asked to be excused which back then you were allowed to do once, second time I had got a new job in a new location, but they simply said you can do it there, so first job on first day was speaking to HR about this, great!
It was explained to me that it is on the judges approval, we were told in the lift by ushers what each judge was like, ie harsh on excuses or easy, and that seemed fair. My case was 10 days, and in that time we lost 3 jurors, meaning we had to have unanimous verdicts which allowed all but one to get off sadly.
But these excuses were health or work related, so even in mid case it is possible if work becomes impossible. One was a miserable b
d who did not want to be there felt it was beneath him, contributed nothing but negativity and ushers knew it, the other was a poor woman whose husband was ill and very deaf, and as you would expect she asked very politely and was of course released with little obstruction.
I was called twice very quickly, first time I asked to be excused which back then you were allowed to do once, second time I had got a new job in a new location, but they simply said you can do it there, so first job on first day was speaking to HR about this, great!
It was explained to me that it is on the judges approval, we were told in the lift by ushers what each judge was like, ie harsh on excuses or easy, and that seemed fair. My case was 10 days, and in that time we lost 3 jurors, meaning we had to have unanimous verdicts which allowed all but one to get off sadly.
But these excuses were health or work related, so even in mid case it is possible if work becomes impossible. One was a miserable b
d who did not want to be there felt it was beneath him, contributed nothing but negativity and ushers knew it, the other was a poor woman whose husband was ill and very deaf, and as you would expect she asked very politely and was of course released with little obstruction. You can ask to be deferred.
Maybe like me you are thinking they have called you in and yes, you are on a jury but nah, like airlines they (seriously) overbook and you will be in a waiting room with many, many others.
For me that then meant they would call 20 names - and a decent chance you do not get called right there. If you do, up you go and make sure you do not know the accused, then from the 20 they choose the final 12.
In two weeks I only made the first 20 twice. Never got on a jury. They often sent us home at lunchtime, too.
Take a book, you will need it. (Or defer, it won't bother them as they have more coming in than needed)
Maybe like me you are thinking they have called you in and yes, you are on a jury but nah, like airlines they (seriously) overbook and you will be in a waiting room with many, many others.
For me that then meant they would call 20 names - and a decent chance you do not get called right there. If you do, up you go and make sure you do not know the accused, then from the 20 they choose the final 12.
In two weeks I only made the first 20 twice. Never got on a jury. They often sent us home at lunchtime, too.
Take a book, you will need it. (Or defer, it won't bother them as they have more coming in than needed)
Not going to be the civic duty crowd - I'm sure they are just getting the pitchforks ready and firing up the outrage bus.
If you truly can't leave your 3 employees for a period of 10 days or so, what happens if (God forbid) you become incapacitated or another emergency comes along?
Isn't it worth looking at contingency planning in case this happens?
SD.
If you truly can't leave your 3 employees for a period of 10 days or so, what happens if (God forbid) you become incapacitated or another emergency comes along?
Isn't it worth looking at contingency planning in case this happens?
SD.
m3jappa said:
Oh i would love to actually do it, ive always wanted to and if i do end up doing it ill take it seriously.
You can ask to be excused or ask for it to be differedsounds like you should ask for it to be differed if you think you might be better set for it in a few months time
Thanks for the replies 
The covid one wont work as i have it right now
And anyway i cant lie, im possibly the worst liar out there and the punishment of telling the truth is often less than the self punishment i give for the lying
I think i will write a letter explaining the situation and hope they are ok with that.
A bigger worry is the fear it might last longer than 10 days, a quick google says thats possible. how do you run a business when you dont know when you can actually work?
The covid one wont work as i have it right now
And anyway i cant lie, im possibly the worst liar out there and the punishment of telling the truth is often less than the self punishment i give for the lying
I think i will write a letter explaining the situation and hope they are ok with that.
A bigger worry is the fear it might last longer than 10 days, a quick google says thats possible. how do you run a business when you dont know when you can actually work?
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