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Jury Duty - Honour or burden?

  • 31-05-2013 04:27PM
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,463 ✭✭✭


    Allo all,

    Have just received summons for Jury Duty to the local circuit court.

    Have always wondered what it would be like to serve on a jury panel (honour, once in a lifetime event, etc).

    One half of me is saying serve, the other half is saying try to get excused.

    Thoughts AH?


«1

Comments

  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,948 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    Depends.
    How much do you hate your job?


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,380 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Don't scam your way out of it. You can get done for it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,792 ✭✭✭2Mad2BeMad


    say you know the person
    or know the family
    i know of them

    they will have to excuse you as the balance is in their favour or against them
    it has to be even


    how i got out of it :D although i actually did know the family haha

    on the other hand if you hate your job or want an experience go for it
    but id find it too boring to be honest


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 619 ✭✭✭Pilotdude5


    The mockingbird did it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,962 ✭✭✭✭dark crystal


    If you're chosen to serve, it's very hard to excuse yourself. Also, your employer is obliged to give you paid time off to serve on a jury.

    I served as a juror on an assault case a few years back and the trial only lasted one day, so depending on the case, you might only be required to serve for a short time.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,899 ✭✭✭✭BBDBB


    neither, its a duty

    clue is in the title


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,230 ✭✭✭Merkin


    It's your duty to do it so whether you view it as a burden or an honour is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. You can try and get out of it although I think most lawyers now are pretty au fait with the litany of excuses used by people.

    It's not something I'd relish tbh. A friend of mine did it last year for a particularly harrowing sex abuse case and because his little daughters were the same ages as the victims when the crimes were perpetrated it affected him deeply.

    I know in the recent April Jones case the jury were forced to watch some of the child pornography/torture that was being viewed by Bridger before he killed the child and I am not so sure how well I'd handle that. I know that the Law knows best but in a situation like that I am still perplexed as to why the police and prosecution in the case couldn't simply have intimated what was on his computer rather than make the poor unfortunate jurors sit through some really fcuked up stuff. :(


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,972 ✭✭✭orestes


    It's neither, it's your duty to the state to play your part in the due procedure of the legal system. If you aren't going to fulfill your obligation to the legal system of the state then you have no right to complain about it or give out about it later down the line.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,377 ✭✭✭zenno


    I was called for jury duty a few years ago but i had a bad flu so couldn't make it in, i just got a doctors sick note and posted into them to explain why i couldn't attend and that was the last i heard from it. I was genuinely in bad shape i wasn't making excuses :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,972 ✭✭✭orestes


    Merkin wrote: »
    I know in the recent April Jones case the jury were forced to watch some of the child pornography/torture that was being viewed by Bridger before he killed the child and I am not so sure how well I'd handle that. I know that the Law knows best but in a situation like that I am still perplexed as to why the police and prosecution in the case couldn't simply have intimated what was on his computer rather than make the poor unfortunate jurors sit through some really fcuked up stuff. :(

    Because it would make the entire point of trial by jury completely and utterly pointless. Nobody said doing your duty is fun and games, but it's still your duty.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭Paddy Cow


    Don't scam your way out of it. You can get done for it.
    It's surprisingly easy to get out of jury duty. I got called once and on the date they wanted me to turn up, I had already planned to be in London. I went in to ask them if I could go to London or did I need to cancel my trip and they were sound about it. They didn't even ask me for proof of a ticket bought before the letter was sent out, which I was expecting.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 44,079 ✭✭✭✭Micky Dolenz


    You'd be a fool to do it.

    Go watch some Mafia movies for more information.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,558 ✭✭✭seven_eleven


    Know somebody that was called to it for a fairly high profile case. The amount of threats and harrassment he got off various people (probably family) on the luas and around the court in plain site of gardai was ridiculous.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,380 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    Paddy Cow wrote: »
    It's surprisingly easy to get out of jury duty. I got called once and on the date they wanted me to turn up, I had already planned to be in London. I went in to ask them if I could go to London or did I need to cancel my trip and they were sound about it. They didn't even ask me for proof of a ticket bought before the letter was sent out, which I was expecting.

    Yeah, but if they had since found out you weren't planning to be abroad at the time, you can get done for it. This is what I meant by the use of the word "scam."


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,144 ✭✭✭DonkeyStyle \o/


    From what I hear, a dury duty summons doesn't guarantee you'll actually be on a jury, only that you'll be in a pool of people that may or may not be selected on the day.

    You could always just tell them you're a freeman and that you're not party to any contract with the state that says you have to provide your services to them. You'd probably end up with a court date of your own, but I suppose it depends on how bored you are.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,393 ✭✭✭witchgirl26


    Paddy Cow wrote: »
    It's surprisingly easy to get out of jury duty. I got called once and on the date they wanted me to turn up, I had already planned to be in London. I went in to ask them if I could go to London or did I need to cancel my trip and they were sound about it. They didn't even ask me for proof of a ticket bought before the letter was sent out, which I was expecting.

    They've cracked down massively on excuses for getting out of it recently. Generally if you have pre-existing plans etc, they will be reasonable but otherwise I wouldn't try to get out of it coz you could end up with a fine which isn't the best.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,788 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    I got a jury duty letter in the post, I left it aside and forgot about it. Is it just the one letter they send or should I have done something?

    Will have to try and find the letter.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,230 ✭✭✭Merkin


    orestes wrote: »
    Nobody said doing your duty is fun and games

    No, they didn't did they?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,576 ✭✭✭Paddy Cow


    orestes wrote: »
    Because it would make the entire point of trial by jury completely and utterly pointless. Nobody said doing your duty is fun and games, but it's still your duty.
    I know that Law and Order isn't real but I hope to God I never end up in court, an innocent person relying on 12 people with no legal experience to see that I am innocent. Barristers are not stupid and go to great lengths to influence jurys. I would like to think that the justice system is fair but it's run by people and people are not always honest. It's not a case of who is right but more a case of who can afford the best lawyers and barristers and who the prosecuter is.

    I know that if I get called again and I can attend I will but it's an awful big responsibility to decide whether or not someone is guilty, as this will affect the rest of their life. Imagine serving on a jury and finding someone guilty, only to find out after they have served years in prison that they are innocent.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    Pretty small chance you'll be actually selected for the jury and even then you will probably get rejected.

    Even if you do go on a jury it might not be for anything major.

    Most likely you'll be sitting around in a waiting room for three days. If you really really detest your job, maybe that's preferable.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,377 ✭✭✭zenno


    You could go in and do it, but you might spend 5/10 working days in there without being called. It happened a friend of mine 3 months ago it cost him a small fortune on bus & luas fares and he was just told to go home after that as he wasn't needed any more.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,440 ✭✭✭✭El Guapo!


    YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,880 ✭✭✭Canis Lupus


    Mate of mine got stuck with that massive Polly Peck case in the UK. Some 7 months on an uncomfortable bench listening to financial/accounting crap and when said person returned to work their role had changed massively. So it's a duty but it can be A pretty horrible and B impact your life negatively if you get a **** case

    Oh and edit: that was 7 months where it's extremely difficult to have a sick day/ arrange holidays.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,449 ✭✭✭nudger


    Got called up twice, first time got selected on the 3rd day, went in, swore in, told the case which was very interesting, then the case was settled out of court.

    Second time was gone each day at 10.30am, just switched my hours.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,543 ✭✭✭Conmaicne Mara


    CruelCoin wrote: »
    Thoughts AH?

    Hang'em all, after a fair trial.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 657 ✭✭✭optimistic_


    Have done it in the central criminal court, was grand, couple of days off, free lunches and tea whenever.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,103 ✭✭✭Tiddlypeeps


    If you're chosen to serve, it's very hard to excuse yourself. Also, your employer is obliged to give you paid time off to serve on a jury.

    Isn't that a bit unfair on employers?

    Fine if it's just a day or two, it probably won't cause any company to go under. But there are plenty of SME's out there that rely heavily on each member of staff they have and to have to pay them to not work for any extended period of time could be crippling.

    I'm not saying people who serve jury duty should go unpaid for that time, I just think it's a bit mental that the state don't foot the bill.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,887 ✭✭✭JuliusCaesar


    I'm in my 50s and have never been called once. Not ever.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    I'm in my 50s and have never been called once. Not ever.
    Neither have I. Apparently you have to be a person of high standing. I'm only 5'10" and a bit.


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