Jury Duty

Anselm

Hey all,

have got a summons for Jury Duty on 31st March. First time. Now as much as I wouldnt mind a day off work, I am needed in work at this time, and dont want to risk being away for 3/4 weeks sorta thing. Has anyone heard of, or knows an excuse that will work to be excused, or how strict the courts are with potential "excuses" ?

Colonel_McCoy

If you have a valid excuse like work it can be deferred.

Ginny

They're all listed on the letter sent out, some people are excused.
If you're sick you'll need a Docs cert, if you're out of the country they might need proof.
Your job can provide a letter saying you're needed in work, my job made me present one when I was called but the judge wouldn't take it, saying work were legally bound to release me for duty.
It will probably say in the letter you got that work is not an excuse.

beerbaron

Doctors note FTW

If you can spare 1 day off, show up, on the off chance you get selected tell the judge you've a holiday booked.

You'll be relieved.

Beanstalk

Depends on the judge, I remember once I was up for jury duty and when they were picking the jury loads of people were absent, and the judge got mad and said they were all liable for fines. I'm not sure if anything happened to them though. She then ordered those of us that weren't picked to come back the next day. Still didn't get picked thankfully....

Get your boss to say you were out of the country on the day for work, e.g. up in Belfast or something, or i'd say a sick cert from a doctor would be adequate enough to skip jury duty. Don't quote me on that though....

P_1

My Dad has a theory about this. Turn up for the selection wearing a leather jacket or something similarly unrespectable. The prosecution lawyers should reject you on these grounds and you can sail off after an hour or so. AFAIK you'll even get paid for a full days work.

Beanstalk

pithater1 wrote: »

My Dad has a theory about this. Turn up for the selection wearing a leather jacket or something similarly unrespectable. The prosecution lawyers should reject you on these grounds and you can sail off after an hour or so. AFAIK you'll even get paid for a full days work.

That's a good idea, but could backfire. It all depends on the case. Lawyers/barristers are notoriously choosy about who to pick for jury. I arrived for both my jury duty selection days in my work clothes and boots which were covered in muck and which were well worn and stuff. I was pciked the second day but wason the jury stand for about 10 seconds before being moved off it.....

TheDriver

Keep nodding off, sniffling, bad smell, wave at defendent etc. They can't hold you liable for being yourself, remember not everyone in this country is capable of turning up in a suit and they don't know what kind of interesting characters come for service.
Lots of beans night before should solve the problem..................

seamus

"We need him in work" is rarely accepted as a valid excuse unless they can show some very important reason such as you being CEO and meeting with another company to discuss a takeover.
That you just don't want to be two days behind on some random project probably won't be accepted. Worth a shot though.

Saying that you have travel arrangements will require proof such as tickets or hotel bookings. Saying that you need to go to Belfast to do a day's work probably won't be accepted unless you've booked flights there.

General info here: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/justice/Courtroom/eligibility_and_selection

My Dad has a theory about this. Turn up for the selection wearing a leather jacket or something similarly unrespectable. The prosecution lawyers should reject you on these grounds and you can sail off after an hour or so.

That depends on what type of evidence is being used and what type of outcome the solicitors are looking for. For one particular case, looking like a Sun reader and a complete knacker might get you excused. On another day, looking like a well educated person who would consider the case facts might get you excused.

and AFAIK you'll even get paid for a full days work.

That depends on your employer. You're only entitled to be paid for the time you are absent from work. So technically once you finish jury duty (even if it's at 3pm), you're supposed to go straight into work. The court will give you a letter saying "So and so was present for jury service on X date between the hours of Y and Z" and some employers require that you give that to them before they'll pay you only for the time you were in jury service.

Beruthiel

pithater1 wrote: »

My Dad has a theory about this. Turn up for the selection wearing a leather jacket or something similarly unrespectable.

I turned up in biker gear, leather jacket, helmet etc... got picked.

juvenal

Anselm wrote: »

Hey all,

have got a summons for Jury Duty on 31st March. First time. Now as much as I wouldnt mind a day off work, I am needed in work at this time, and dont want to risk being away for 3/4 weeks sorta thing. Has anyone heard of, or knows an excuse that will work to be excused, or how strict the courts are with potential "excuses" ?

You're actually needed in work, or you just would rather not fulfil what is, IMO, a civic responsibility?

Lux23

Try turning up in a tracksuit and white runners, the prosecution will try to strike you off.

The Hill Billy

Is this really a PI? Maybe a Work & Jobs Issue.

Anyway... If you have a valid reason not to do it I'm sure that the judge will be fair. If you try & chance your arm he may not be too pleased about it. Contempt of court?

Your best bet would be to get yourself de-selected from the jury panel (where the prosecution & defence select who they feel would be the best jurors for their side). Wear a suit & carry a copy of the Irish Times under your arm. Apparently that's the best way to get off.


But remember - It is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.

TheNog

Why would you not want to go??? It would be interesting to hear the case and view the evidence.

juvenal

If you are in employment, section 29 of the Juries Act, 1976 places a duty on your employer to allow you attend for jury service. The law also states that the time spent on jury service is to be treated as if the employee were actually employed. In other words, if you are in employment and are attending for jury service, you are entitled to be paid while you are away from work. There should be no loss of any other employment rights while you serve on a jury. The County Registrar will provide a certificate of attendance on request.

Here's a link with further information.

http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/Library3.nsf/0/7089BBEE7452F7AC802570440054CE9D?OpenDocument

lemon125

why not do your duty to society and turn up and if you get pick then well and good.
I got called to the selection panel. Turned up two days and they picked two jurys and luckily i wasnt selected. One jurer wore a suit and had the times as you think it will get you off, no the solicitors let him stay and in the same jury a lad with a tattoo on his neck and a Chelsea shirt was sworn in without been let go. The three people that were left go, one was a woman who said she just couldn't handle it and is panicking, another said he is a farmer and has to milk and is building a shed and needs to be home, one other 'normal' looking man was set free for no reason.

the corpo

When I got called I just wrote back saying I work for a small company and it would impair our business if I wasn't there. Was excused with no problems.

Jumbo156

Do what a girl in front of me did, She borrowed a baby for the morning, turned up in court with babe in arms, the judge dismissed her straight away....
Or when you get picked, if you get picked, just tell the Judge that you know the defendant or his family, you will be thanked for being "honest" and dismissed...

As said before , a note from work used to be allowed but not anymore

humanji

I got called a while ago and replied to the letter saying I wouldn't be in the country at the time specified. Never heard anything from them again.

RealJohn

Unless you actually can't do it, go and do it. Ok, you might be tied up for a few weeks but the chances are it'll be a day or two. Like has been pointed out, it's your civic duty to do it if you're called. Stop looking for excuses. If you have a genuine excuse, you don't need advice from an internet forum.

McSween

Jumbo156 wrote: »

Do what a girl in front of me did, She borrowed a baby for the morning, turned up in court with babe in arms, the judge dismissed her straight away....
Or when you get picked, if you get picked, just tell the Judge that you know the defendant or his family, you will be thanked for being "honest" and dismissed...

As said before , a note from work used to be allowed but not anymore

yeah, heard the "you are excused and thank you for your honesty" . i got picked in 2003, setting a car on fire it was. the victim backed down cos they were utter scumbags. having said that we weren't convinced she could have known it was him anyway.

at the end the judge sounded disgusted with her and apologised to us the jury. we didn't care we were just relieved we weren't going to be marked men and women.

pwd

I did jury duty a few months ago. The judge said several times when they were selecting the jury that work was not a valid excuse. I was in the circuit courts, but the trial I was on dragged out over two weeks.
Someone suggested that you wear a leather jacket. That would probably work as either the prosecution or defence would be likely to object to you being called.
A lot of people just didn't show up and took the fine. It's a small fine as far as I recall, though they were talking about increasing it. A doctor's cert would work too.
I found the jury duty a trial. The case I was on was fairly dramatic, and the defence council was a showman and one of the most successful criminal barristers in the country - he represented Gilligan in the Veronica Guerin case. His approach was to make all the prosecution witnesses look like idiots. But despite these things the court was very boring. It's also very restrictive. You have to spend all your time with the other jurors, and under garda supervision, and you get the same sort of food every day in the same place.
edit: Saying you know someone involved in the case would also work

the dee

I got called once, really wanted to do it but had exams in college. I had to get a letter from my college confirming that and that was the end of it. I'd be really interested to be on a jury though...

moridin

I was in the same situation about 2 months ago and was called to the Central Criminal court... just go in and if you get picked and the case is longer than a day or two the judge will ask if you're certain that you'll be able to attend for the full case, the last thing they want is having to resit the whole thing because a juror can't make it for the whole case.

Tell him that you work on a small team in work and you can't take anything more than a day or two off due to the volume of work you're doing and they'll excuse you.

babyguinnessfan

Slightly off-topic maybe, but is it true that you can't be called for jury duty for at least 5 years after being a legal secretary or working in any capacity within the legal system? Heard that somewhere..

seamus

babyguinnessfan wrote: »

Slightly off-topic maybe, but is it true that you can't be called for jury duty for at least 5 years after being a legal secretary or working in any capacity within the legal system? Heard that somewhere..

Nope, doesn't seem to be.

If you are a legal secretary, you are exempt as of right, but there's no time specified. As soon as you stop working as a legal secretary you cannot be excused.

gurramok

I do know someone who while waiting to be picked for jury duty, the defendant actually talked(small chat) to him and another fella beforehand for a few minutes.
Thought it was outrageous that this could happen. Anyway, both ended up not getting picked(not because of chat as it was not seen or noticed)

dartsfan

One way to get out of this is not to have your name on the electoral register....you'll never be picked in the first place!!!

masterwriter

lemon125 wrote: »

why not do your duty to society and turn up and if you get pick then well and good.
I got called to the selection panel. Turned up two days and they picked two jurys and luckily i wasnt selected. One jurer wore a suit and had the times as you think it will get you off, no the solicitors let him stay and in the same jury a lad with a tattoo on his neck and a Chelsea shirt was sworn in without been let go. The three people that were left go, one was a woman who said she just couldn't handle it and is panicking, another said he is a farmer and has to milk and is building a shed and needs to be home, one other 'normal' looking man was set free for no reason.

I read of a man who explained that due to his religious beliefs he would find it impossible to find anyone guilty.........