Jury duty...Was I had?

allyano16

Hey there, dont know who else to turn to but I need a teachery question answered ASAP!!

I was on holidays a few months ago and I was told by 2 primary school teachers from Meath that after 4 or so years of teaching in a primary school they aren't required to do jury duty.

Anybody know if this is correct? I just told one of my mates and she nearly had to be scraped off the floor with the laughter :mad:

Was I had..?

sitstill

It's true. Teachers don't have to do jury duty - you just need a letter from your principal. It makes sense really, students only have 167 days of school a year and jury duty can last quite a while, meaning they'd be losing out if their teacher was called.

daveyboy_1ie

Lifted from www.Citizensinformation.ie, I don't see Teachers on the list though. I highlighted the section closest to your own proffesion, maybe at a stretch?

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 three months.
• 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 between the ages of 65 and 70 years (From January 2009 those aged 65 or over).
• Members of the 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 ship's masters
• Those who provide an important community service, such as practising doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, vets, chemists, etc.
• The following persons if it is certified that their functions cannot reasonably 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 Service Executive (HSE) Areas 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 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 as long as the judge

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courtroom/eligibility_and_selection.html

sitstill

No we definitely can be excused. My mother was called the other week and it says on the back of the letter.

Toto Wolfcastle

School teachers is in the line below what you have highlighted.

The OP is asking about being excused after 4 years of teaching. Something that I have heard over the years is that after a certain amount of years teaching Junior/Senior Infants you are excused from jury duty. What I've always heard is that after teaching young kids for that length of time you are no longer deemed able to make a decision like would be expected of you during jury duty. No idea if it's true or not but I've heard it from many different people.

pooch90

I've heard it RE teaching infants too but not RE general teaching. None of my colleagues (AFAIK) have ever done jury duty though

allyano16

Yeah I was refering to baby/senior infants... Delighted, thanks for the answer and I'll be owed a nice "told ya so" pint next night Im out! YASSS! :D - hope all yee teachers are enjoying mid-term

alexlyons

daveyboy_1ie wrote: »

Lifted from www.Citizensinformation.ie, I don't see Teachers on the list though. I highlighted the section closest to your own proffesion, maybe at a stretch?

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 three months.
• 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 between the ages of 65 and 70 years (From January 2009 those aged 65 or over).
• Members of the 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 ship's masters
• Those who provide an important community service, such as practising doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, vets, chemists, etc.
• The following persons if it is certified that their functions cannot reasonably 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 Service Executive (HSE) Areas 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 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 as long as the judge

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courtroom/eligibility_and_selection.html

happens to the best of us