Jury Service

[Metalman]

Has anyone been on jury service as a friend has just been called up...is it scary or exciting, do you learn much etc...he has read the speil but I was curious from the real persons point of veiw!

[cazmanian_minx]

I've done it - tell him to take a good book, there's a lot of waiting around! It very much depends on the case you get. I ended up listening to a case about wrongful imprisonment, which was fascinating, and turned out to be the last in a linked series of three trials, so the judge asked us if we would like to come back in and listen to the summing up and sentencing, which we all said yes to and then had to be escorted out of the judges' entrance at the back of the court so we didn't bump into any angry relatives afterwards. One of the other trials running at the time was a very complex fraud case and the jurors ended up serving for nearly four months.

[Stack Rock]

About 50 people are called up to attend court for the selection process just before the trial starts. Only 15 are selected so if your friend is called up he/she may not end up on the jury.

[Alice in Blunderland]

My mum got called up a few years ago and she was terrified about it. She went along praying she wouldn't get picked and she did. She didn't mind the experience after all I think she was more nervous about the thought of doing it. The dreaded jury service envelope arrived int his house yesterday for me :D

[golach]

I was called up for jury service a while ago, was very nervous, got picked and it was a fairly serious assault case a man had been accused of attacking another with a hammer. The case went on for 4 days and became a bit boring, but it was an experience, an interesting one, just seeing how the system works.

[smithp]

Was called up last month, basically you re arrange your work calender at great inconvenience only for it to be called off at the last moment. I'll find the accused guilty by post next time.

[Dadie]

Take a cushion ...for a comfy seat.
Take something to do...for a long wait....can be hours!
Take a notebook and pen to note things down....or scribble ...
Take coffee ..you will need it
Its pretty boring unless you get an exciting case ...then its boring with long dialogues about technical issues!
Lunch will be the highlight of the day!