Jury duty

billyhead

Hi Folks,

My brother was called to do jury duty yesterday and while in the waiting room in the courts building they called out about 150 names of people due to carry this out iincluding his but he also heard my name being called. My name is quite unique and I never received a summons in the post to be called up for jury duty. So me knowing that its a serious offence not to attend and thinking maybe the letter or summons got mislaid in the post rang the court offices in Parkgate steet to find out if I was on the list for jury duty. The girl I was speaking to told me I was not and that it must have been another person with the same name after i qouted my address. TBH she did not sound too convincing. What would the likelihodd be that it was myself that had to attend for the duty even though I never received a letter or summons. Also I am a civil servant and was wondering are we excluded from Jury duty. Cheers

Miaireland

It depends on your role:




Eligibility.

Every citizen aged 18 years or upwards whose name is on the Register of Dáil electors can be called for jury service: Ineligible persons.

» Those involved in any way with the administration of justice. This includes judges, former judges, the President, the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, members of the Gardai and defence forces, prison officers, practising barristers, solicitors, court officers such as registrars and personnel in government departments involved in matters of justice or the courts.
» Those who are suffering from or have suffered from mental illness or mental disability and on account of that condition are resident in hospital or other similar institution or who regularly attend for treatment by a medical practitioner.
» Those who have an insufficient capacity to read, or an enduring impairment such that it is not practicable for them to perform the duties of a juror.
Disqualification.

The following persons are disqualified from jury service:
» Those who have been convicted of a serious offence in Ireland.
» Those who have ever been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five years or more.
» Those who, within the last ten years, have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least three months and have served any part of that sentence.
» People living in Ireland who are not Irish citizens.
Those who are excused as of right.

The following persons may be excused as of right from jury service:
» Persons aged 65 and upwards.
» Members of either House of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament), members of the Council of State, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Clerks of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, a person in Holy Orders, a minister of any religious denomination or community, members of monasteries and convents, aircraft pilots, full-time students and ships' masters.
» Those who provide an important community service including practising doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, vets and chemists.
» The following persons if it certified that their functions cannot be performed by another person or postponed; members of staff of either House of the Oireachtas, Heads of Government Departments, other civil servants, chief executive officers and employees of local authorities, health boards and harbour authorities, school teachers and university lecturers.
» Those who have served on a jury within the last three years or who have been excused by a judge at the conclusion of a previous period of service for a period that has not ended.
Other occasions when you may be excused.

Other occasions when you may be excused include:
» The County Registrar or the trial judge may excuse you if he/ she is satisfied that there is 'good reason' for doing so.
» At the end of a case of 'an exceptionally exacting nature', the trial judge may excuse the jury from jury service for a long as the judge considers fit.
The rules about qualification and liability for jury service in Ireland are set down in Part II of the Juries Act, 1976 (amended by Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008).



Failure to attend and other offences.

The following offences are punishable by fines:
» Failing to attend for jury service without reasonable excuse, or not being available when called upon to serve as a juror or being unfit for service by reason of drink and drugs.
» Making or causing to be made on your behalf false representations.
» Serving on a jury knowing you are ineligible or disqualified.
» Giving false or misleading answers to the presiding judge regarding your qualification for jury service.
» Making or causing to be made on behalf of a person summoned as a juror any false representation to enable him or her to evade jury service.
The full text of these offences are set down in Part V of the Juries Act, 1976 as amended by Part 6 Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008.

billyhead

Thanks for the info. Would it be possible that a summons to attend for Jury duty got mislaid in the post. The girl in the courts office said not to worry.:)

Miaireland

To be honest the odds are that it was a different person. I always thought my name was unusual till I looked on facebook.

If you are really concerned you could write to the Courts office and explain the situation.

Check with your brother if his summons was sent by registered post?

Victor

I imagine its unlikely that two people at the same address would be called at the same time.

billyhead

Victor wrote: »

I imagine its unlikely that two people at the same address would be called at the same time.

Hi Victor,

Both myself and the brother live at 2 different addresses.
Rgds
Billyhead

Carawaystick

Why the special mention for "a person in Holy Orders, a minister of any religious denomination or community, members of monasteries and convents"
Is it because they believe so much in imaginary beings that their judgement is suspect or is it more church and state intermingling?

Victor

I imagine if a priest or similar were to be on a jury, some religiously-inclined people would defer to them rather than think on their own merits. That is of course aside from the fact that the priest may have greater knowledge than the rest of the community and might not be considered a peer of the accused.

fuelinjection

I worked in a semi-state company for 8 years and was called for Jury Duty.

You can plead that you have some project work that is very important with a letter from your boss, but I was ok as it was summertime (quiet-ish) and my job could be covered by my work colleagues.

Theres a lot more people than they need for the various juries as the accused (or his lawyer) has the right to reject up to 12(?) jury members if they are not going to give him a fair trial.
As far as I remember quite a few people on the list never showed up, but I think that they just went back on the list of possible jury members to be called again whereas I was left alone since I did the 2 weeks.


It's worth doing if you get called .... very interesting insight to the Court system.

Fulton Crown

It's everybody's duty to attend for Jury service...no excuses.

It's what the whole legal system is based....12 good persons,,etc.

Have no time for those who try to dodge this responsibility !

Victor

Fulton Crown wrote: »

It's everybody's duty to attend for Jury service

Sure.

no excuses.

Sorry, but there are lots of reasons, as explained above why certain people are exempted or excused.

Our man in Havana

If a person cannot travel to the court becuase they are on welfare and do not have a car or live in an area of no public transport they will be excused. A person in a rural area could have a long way to travel.

Fulton Crown

Victor wrote: »

Sure.Sorry, but there are lots of reasons, as explained above why certain people are exempted or excused.

Yes Vic ..I stand corrected.of course there are LEGITIMATE excuses why somebody cannot do Jury duty.

Little bit of a piss orf though when people try to make up excuses.

Ummmmm ?

diamondgirl

was reading all the posts about jury service.
My husband was called for jury service only recently. The summons came in a normal brown envelope, not registered post.

Also in relation to it being unlikely that 2 in the same house hold would be called I would love to know how they do pick ?

As my neighbours on each side of us, a neighbour up the road & my husbands niece were all called for jury service aswell.

Then when my husband arrived in the court house, he met 2 lads he used to work with, that are again from our area.

Our man in Havana

The names are selected at random from the electoral register.

Slugs

So if you're not on the electoral register, you can't be selected for jury duty o.O?

Our man in Havana

Slugs wrote: »

So if you're not on the electoral register, you can't be selected for jury duty o.O?

Indeed. You are correct.

Slugs

Seems like a decent reason for me to stay off it among other things :P