gingerboy

My good lady has been called up for jury service and now her employees, an NHS trust are asking if she can find out if their is anyway of getting out of it.

I believe that prior to 2003 certain professions including, doctors, midwives, armed forces etc could be excused if their HR / line management deemed that they were required to perform their job role and attending jury service would have detremental effects on their colleagues / department.

However in 2003 the afore mentioned professions had their exclusion lifted and are now required to attend regardless "allegedly". So my question is does anybody on SN have experience of JS in the last 12 months and / or know of circumstances / professions that will or can be excused.

The wife is quite happy to do JS for 7 weeks, however her line manager is not happy at all and putting pressure on my other half to find an excuse to get out of it .

Cheers

GB

Apparition

If she's been asked to do it, then do it she must. Its her civic duty and her line manager should respect this. What would be the scenario if the line manager were called up for jury service ??
My husband was called up last year just as he was setting up his own new business. We wrote to the powers that be and asked if we coud have a delay on the date. This was accepted and he now has to go in March of this year instead. That's the only way I think anyone can justifiably delay the actual attendance. Unless your lady has a criminal record of course, then they won't want her at all !

imlach

Often wondered - if you turn up for Jury Service wearing something offensive, ie a **** badge, or expressing extreme racist views, what would happen in the selection process?

gingerboy

I should of known really shouldn't I, that any minute soon somebody would come along with the "what if????"

Nice idea though, shall we find out? Oh darling one you have an appointment at the hairdressers and Tattoo shop .

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

no chance of getting out, but you might be able to get off if you say "you reconise the defendent and ask to be excused"

I found it quite interesting, had two really good cases. You need a good book, as theres lots of waiting around and you normally get shafted on your expensives, they expected me to use publice transport to go the 25 miles, it would of taken 3 hours, 2 buses and a train, against 20 minutes in the car up the motorway.

Frosty The Snowman

It's not on. She should be allowed to do the Jury service, it's about the only way a regular person can actually make a difference these days about crime and punishment.

Of all places hospitals should have some backup to cover illness and things like this as they are large organisations, it's the small business who can't lose a person for several weeks at a time as they may well lose all of their customers.

SJ_Skyline

If you are required to attend for jury service, or are summoned as a witness, you are obliged by law to attend court and your employer must by law release you for this public duty.

I believe you can also defer your service for up to 12 months providing you submit a case for deferal.

http://www.cjsonline.gov.uk/juror/

gingerboy

Cheers for all the replies, she has spoken to the court and is awaiting feedback although she has indicated she is happy to proceed and that it is her employer that is against her taking part in JS.

GB

davegtt

I got out of mine 8 years ago

There are a few exceptions, it does say it on the call up letter. IIRC if it takes longer than 1hour or something along them lines to get there by ANY means of transport then you are excempt from it. at the time I was 18 and had not passed my driving test so couldnt drive the 20 miles to Lincoln. So I wrote a lettr explaining that to get the bus I would have to walk to the bus station which is a 20 minute walk, even a taxi would be 10 minutes in town traffic. the earliest the bus leaves my town to arrive in Lincoln is xxxx which means I'll arrive late for a start and also take me over an hour to get there balh blah.

Train gave the exact same excuses, got a letter back saying I was excused brilliant cause I really didnt want to do it. Id only been 18 for 8 days aswell. early call up for me it was

Dracoro

That only excuses you from that case though. You then end up in waiting room awaiting a new case to be put on. Waiting being the key word here, there's a lot of it!

And as for claiming to be a **** or something, how pathetic. Anyway, I'm sure they note this down for future reference and the police know about it. Interesting come the time they decide to knock on your door everytime there's a race related crime in your area!

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Spot on Rich!

I did it a few months back (2nd time in 4 years or so) and, I'm afraid the summoning body are rather unsympathetic these days. To be honest the best you can usually hope for is a deferral, but bare in mind you can only defer once!! The second date may be even more inconvenient! If its her place of work that objects then they should take the strain when it comes to dealing with the summoning officers, not her.

NS04

EddScott

She could always stand up and shout "It was me!!! You'll never take me alive copper!!"

Should speed up the process a little.

Edit - seriously though, I think its pretty off shes having pressure put on her to attempt to get out of it. That has the chance of causing problems for her. 99.9% of people are aware that you are supposed to attend if requested. She should stick to her guns and ask that no further comments should be made along the lines of getting out of jury service.

MattW

34 and never been asked.

carl

Of course if everyone with a job deferred or tried to get out of it, everyone would end up being tried by juries comprising 12 unemployed scallies. Is that really what we want?

urban

iTrader: (1)

I've been called for jury service twice in the last 4 years - haven't attended either.
Both times deferred, (1) because I don't really want to do it. (2) my employer cant afford me being off work for potentially 6 or 7 weeks. (3) because I know someone "in the know" if you understand.

Shaun

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Yes, this is very true! Some jurors just aren't up to the task as it is, but the chances of geting 12 of em are fairly remote

It's something that everyone should do once really. It's actually very interesting when you're not in the waiting rooms!

NS04

Sbradley

I was asked to do it a short while ago (just before applying to become a magistrate!)

Contacted them and asked about loss of earnings as the daily cap was about 10% of my daily chargeout rate. Was excused (NOT exempted) immediately without even requesting it.

Felt a bit bad because it *is* a civic duty but there again it would be my second time...

SB

MattW

Successful?

gingerboy

I will show her your reply and suggest her line manager contacts the courts if they are that concerned.

Good point well presented .

Cheers

Paul

ps - thanks for all the replies so far everbody.

warrenm2

Tell the boss to sod off

stilover

I've been wanting to be caled up for years. Anything to get a couple weeks off work

Sbradley

MattW, I'm going through the process at the moment.

But they didn't tell me to sod off, which is a start...

SB

NotoriousREV

If you want to get out of Jury Service, simply get yourself a criminal record. Ideally something cool that doesn't have too harsh a sentence. Minor fraud, for example.

EDIT: you should be aware that unless you end up with a custodial sentence, you'll only get away with it for 10 years

SiPie

It needs to be a custodial sentence as I was still called and have a criminal record ............ and no, I'm not talking about anything by Mariah Carey

Spoon

You can say you are a carer for Píssy Lewis and not have to do it.

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

Somebody once said that juries consist entirely of people too stupid to get out of jury service. Typically they are a mix of the unemployed and coffin-dodgers. This was the reason why the government removed most exemptions (such as the fact that you work in the CJ system, including the police) - in the hope that some normal middle-class people might do their -ing duty without whinging for once. As it is, about the only exemption remaining is if you know any of the people involved in the trial, or don't speak English.


M

Spoon

Disability or carer of, are 2.

gingerboy

The wifes Welsh and slightly bonkers , would that help . Like I say she's happy to do it, it's just her pain in the rear boss. If it was me I would tell her boss to go herself, the wife is a little more diplomatic than me though .

GB

Brendan Hughes

Can't wait to resurrect this thread next time there is a complaint about Brussels or the PC brigade trying to do away with our "English" right to trial by jury....

MrsDibbleyUK

as its already been mentioned she is actually meant to do it

she can ask her manager to write aletter to the courts asking them to excuse you from the service as she is shadowing etc at work and it at a cruicial point in her job and is considered to be a cruicial memebr of her team etc

if that doesnt work
jus ask them to put it back again


Her being summoned is not a guarantee that she will end up sitting on a jury, but there are only a few circumstances under which she can be excused. You must have a strong reason, such as academic exams or a pre-booked holiday. However, most excuses will probably only lead to your jury service being deferred.

You’ll only be considered ineligible if you have sat on a jury within the past two years, if you are on bail or have been on probation within the last five years, if you have been sentenced to prison, youth custody or community service in the past ten years, if you suffer from a mental health problem, or if you hold any of the following positions:

Judge
Magistrate
Solicitor
Barrister
Religious minister
MP
Member of the armed forces
Member of the medical profession (including chemist or vet)
Police or probation officer
A form to assess your eligibility will accompany the summons you receive in the post. If you don’t fit into any of the above categories, and you are aged between 18 and 70, then you must attend your local Crown Court at a given date (or you may be required at Civil Court or High Court).


By law her line manager has to let her go and can not refuse this.
If i were her id go you cant do much about it