Jury duty advise please...

BeardedGenius said:

My first day tomorrow, report at 9.30. If I'm on the jury and you're being tried, please don't hurt me.

Anyone got any general advice?

1) What are the chances of getting picked? Highly likely? 50-50?

2) Is it a case of getting picked or not on the first day, or are you 'on call' and have to come in everyday just in case you're picked for a case?

3) Is it one case and you're done? Or do you tend to have a few?

4) What do most people wear? Are jeans and trainers a no-no?

5) Do the days tend to be 9 to 5?


I can't be arsed... there's stuff to do at work and it's only gonna build up...

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1) Pot luck but i would say more than likely as apposed to highly likely.

2) Lucky to get picked on the first day but you must go in everyday. You sometimes get sent home if nothing comes up though.

3) No. How long you in for? I did two weeks and got two cases. You must do the full stint - cases or not. I was only in court for about 6 days out of the ten.
If you get a juicy case though - a murder or summit you can forget going on your summer holiday! You have to stay until the end of the trial.

4) Dont bother wearing a whistle but some judges can be arseholes and if they dont like the look of you and can make you smarten up. No baseball caps, hoodies, trackies, football shirts etc. Dont try topless either. I did once but didnt get away with it.

5) Like i said - if nowt is happening they may send you home. Also legal arguments may mean the judge sends you home until they are ironed out. I would say things finish nearer mid afternoon than late afternoon.

Tell you what though - there is loads of hanging about so take some distraction but for me it was one of the best experiences of my life. I would love to do it again.

General Advice.

-Bring a book/Ipod. There is a lot of waiting around. I did a full two week stint once without being selected.

-work building up back at the office. Address this with your supervision. If you get a serious case, you could be out of the game for ages. There are (rare) instances of jurors being housed at secret locations with little or no outside contact allowed.

-don't go for a pint in any of the nearby pubs at dinner time/home time

-if anyone approaches you at the court about your case or any others, politely say you can't speak about it, then report the matter ASAP

longford said:

I would say for anyone with even just a small amount of social conscious would find the whole thing interesting and rewarding.

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Nail on head. It does feel like you've done something to help someone/society, as if you've done your "bit" in a country with no national service etc.

BeardedGenius said:

My first day tomorrow, report at 9.30. If I'm on the jury and you're being tried, please don't hurt me.

Anyone got any general advice?

1) What are the chances of getting picked? Highly likely? 50-50?

2) Is it a case of getting picked or not on the first day, or are you 'on call' and have to come in everyday just in case you're picked for a case?

3) Is it one case and you're done? Or do you tend to have a few?

4) What do most people wear? Are jeans and trainers a no-no?

5) Do the days tend to be 9 to 5?


I can't be arsed... there's stuff to do at work and it's only gonna build up...

Click to expand...

I did it last year. A week in an 'overflow' court in Stockport (that's not a technical term. I made it up) and a week in Minshull.

There was only one case at Stockport and the baddies kept fannying around. In the end not one of the 15-20 of us set foot in a court room all week. I met some great people, heading to the pub with them every afternoon (not sure you're supposed to drink though) and most days were only there for half days. By the time we got to Minshull the following week I already had my little Stockport clique to hang around with.

Minshull was a differnet kettle o'fish. Probably 100+ people in there and names being called every half hour, at the beginning. Again I was never picked. Each evening you'd call a number and a pre-recorded message tells you if you are to come back the following morning. The worst thing about it all was when I called after day 3 I was told my service had ended. Just like that the lovely people I'd been with for the last week and a half were gone and without any contact details, I never saw any of them again.

To answer some questions:

most people are picked at least once. A case may take a couple of days, in which case you'll be put back in the pool for picking for another. If you don't get picked on day one, you'll come back every day for the first week. 2nd week you could be let go at after any day if not involved in a case.

If you get picked for a case that could possibly go on for a long time (very few do) you can exclude yourself from that jury, if say, you're going on holiday in a month or have an exam coming up.

Wearing trainers, jeans + t-shirt is fine. If not picked that day you'll probably be out for 3.00pm.

Above all I'd say make an effort to speak to people while your waiting. Its interesting to get a random demographic from the area and be put in a room with them. You'll enjoy it, case or no case.

You can apply for an exemption to jury service if taking part in jury service would be detrimental to your lifestyle (e.g. sole trading newspaper shop owner who would lose his livelihood) and/or you earn over a certain amount where it would not be in the public interest to reimburse you with that sort of money.

andysimo123 said:

I was reading in the paper the other day that if you find your car window smashed its not classed criminal damage if there's no evidence. So if you don't leave any proof that you were there the Police can't do anything.

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Not quite true.

Basically, a crime is victim confirmed.

If a copper walking past sees a car with a smashed window, he would (should) record the incident and make attempts at finding the owner. If the owner is found/reports back and says "that wasn't smashed when I left it/it was damaged without my permission/etc" then the reported incident would be finalised as a crime.

Until that victim is found/comes forward, then it would remain as a recorded incident/suspicious circumstances without a "crime" being recorded. Until a victim says "that is my property and it was damaged without my permission" then, in theory, the copper would not be able to confirm/negate that a crime had occured. For example, the owner may have damaged the window himself to retrieve keys left in a locked car. Unlikely, but until the victim says otherwise, there is nothing to confirm/negate this.