Jury service, what do they know about you?

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121465775#Comment_121465775

I was on a jury once outside of Dublin and it was at the swearing in stage that the objections were made. Our names were called out during the various roll calls, which made some of my colleagues very uncomfortable.

Hotblack Desiato

Oh yeah at the swearing in stage but once you started either swearing in or asked to affirm (you have to f'kin ask 🙄 ) it was too late.

PTH2009

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121467509#Comment_121467509

The judge can be some surly ballax

There should be a way of trying to talk to the judge privately if you need to be excused. Instead of having to stand in front of everyone, made start swear the oath and try say 'can I speak to you' etc

naughtysmurf

We were instructed by court staff before entering the courtroom that when your name was called aloud to swear the oath, it was at that point you must tell the judge that you wish to be excused & not after you take the oath, not sure what would happen if you took the oath & then offered your excuse, immediately after taking the oath you are directed to take your seat on the jury

CalamariFritti

Not much. They invited me for jury service and it was up to me to tell them I dont qualify cos Im not an Irish citizen.

apache

I've been called a few times but I don't qualify because of my job. I thought they would have recorded that after the first time.

Hotblack Desiato

You might have changed job and 'forgot' to tell them that you are now eligible for service 😁

coylemj

Can someone say for definite what the courts service do with the data (your occupation) that you provide when you reply to the sumnmons?

I was called for jury service. I showed up and listed to the instructions from the registrar and the judge. They then started to empanel a jury. My name was called, I stepped forward and took the bible in my hand. I don't recall the prosecution or defence looking me up on a list of potential jurors and their occupations to decide if they would reject me. As far I know, they knew nothing about me other than my name.

As others have said, the decision to reject you seems to be based purely on sight - the look of you. Is that correct or does the prosecution and defence get a list of names, addresses and occupations of the current jury pool?

axer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121471589#Comment_121471589

They've looked at those details before you walk into the room. I've seen it in a number of sources (such as https://www.thejournal.ie/jury-service-in-ireland-1385791-Mar2014/) that both sides have your name and occupation but I can't find any official source. My experience is they probably do have occupation.

cml387

Many years ago I was called for jury service. In the selection process one chap had a three piece suit and an attache case. When he was called there was an immediate challenge from the defence. I can't help thinking he was dressed like that deliberately.

If you really want to serve on a jury, dress anonymously is my advice.

Calahonda52

worth a look

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Runaway_Jury

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121472028#Comment_121472028

If I'm called again, I'm going in full-on biker gear and the most obnoxious band t-shirt I can rustle up

I've served on two juries, I've done my bit.

I can see why people might want to see what happens the first time out of curiosity, but in reality sitting around for all or most of a week is a bore, and doing it a second time is just a pain.

First time around was a rape trial - it's common today to give long exemptions from jury service for these but we got nothing.

Second time around was an assault case - nobody on the jury could figure out how on earth the DPP thought there was enough evidence to prosecute, it was a waste of everyone's time. There was a very young looking prosecuting counsel, it seemed like a training run for her...

That was a lucky escape though, we had video link in the jury room as Mark Nash was being arraigned, I mean everyone recognised him and knew he was already convicted of murders and didn't want to be assigned to that trial for sure... some people in the same batch as me had to serve on his trial.

Victor

Occupation is important as some people are mandatorily excluded, e.g. they are a garda, while some have the option of self exclusion, e.g. a surgeon.

magicbastarder

Regarding how often there's an objection to a potential juror, my one experience was of being number 19 on a panel of 20 (for a sexual assault case) and the jury being completed by the time they got to panellist number 18 - in short, one in three people were objected to.

Victor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121489578#Comment_121489578

Objected to or self-excluded (maybe they knew someone)?

magicbastarder

objected to by defence or prosecution; there were (very rough guess) 80 people called for jury duty, 5 cases in front of the court, two or three of which went to trial so jury formation happened at the time.

those of us not picked were told to go home; no need to return the following day. it was the central criminal court, so they don't have a huge volume of cases they needed juries for.

cml387

BTW if there is a problem with you serving AFTER you take the oath, the whole process of selection may have start again. This happened in my experience when a selected sworn. in juror announced that he was unable to read or write