How Long Do I Have To Do Jury Service For

How did the jury begin?

The history of the jury arrangement under the law of the land for England and Wales makes fascinating reading. As far back as the 12th century, the 'jury organisation' appeared, but information technology was a far cry from the jury system that exists today. Henry Ii ready up a 'jury system' for resolving country disputes in the 12th century.

Do you legally have to attend Jury Service?

Still, rather than the jurors mind to facts presented in a courtroom of police force, they were charged with investigating the disputes themselves in lodge to accomplish a decision. Between then and the 16th century, the jury system changed, with the introduction of the "grand jury" which, once once more bears little resemblance to what was referred to as a 'one thousand jury' up until the time it was abolished in 1930.

While you may take heard of a thousand jury more recently, the chances are you were either reading or watching something about the USA.

By the mid-14th century, the 12-human jury had appeared.

Nonetheless, similar to the original juries, jury members were selected either because they knew the political party/parties involved and the details of the instance, or they were prepared to find them out. By the 17th century, less emphasis was beingness placed on juries to establish the facts, and they relied more than on the trial process to inform them of events. In 1641, the Act of Parliament which abolished the Star Chamber underlined the right of citizens to exist judged by their peers.

The independence of jurors was cemented into the law after ii Quakers were charged with unlawful assembly in 1670. William Penn and William Mead were establish not guilty of the accuse by a jury of 12 men in the Central Criminal Court of the Erstwhile Bailey. Unhappy with the verdict, the presiding judge promptly jailed all the jurors until they inverse their verdict, which they refused to practise. Eventually, the Lord Chief Justice intervened to free the jurors, while Penn and Mead remained incarcerated equally they had failed to remove their hats in courtroom.

The trial became known equally "Bushel's Example" as information technology established, beyond doubtfulness, the independence of jurors in the English legal system.

Notwithstanding, it was non until 1920 and the effects of the suffragette movement that the outset women appeared on a jury.

Who cannot sit down on a jury?

Today, you have to be between the ages of 18 and seventy to be eligible for jury service. You will be excluded from whatever list of suitable jurors if you take been detained under the Mental Wellness Deed or lack the advisable capacity as defined under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. If you take served a prison house sentence within the final ten years or are currently on bond, you will also exclude you lot from jury service.

Similarly, if you accept non registered to vote or take not been resident in the Britain, the Island of Man, or the Channel Islands for a minimum period of five years since your 13th birthday, you will not exist eligible to sit on a jury.

How do you know when you take been selected to sit down on a jury?

If you lot have been selected for jury duty, approximately nine weeks before having to announced in court, you volition receive a jury summons, which you must reply to within seven days or you will exist liable to a £1,000 fine. It should be noted that you will not be provided with any information about the example you volition exist a juror for, you will only detect that out on the beginning 24-hour interval.

Is jury service optional?

The straightforward answer to this question is no; jury service is not optional. Yous are immune to defer jury duty ane time only, and it must be for a valid reason, such as a booked holiday or surgical procedure, though proof must be presented when y'all return the jury summons.

The Jury Central Summoning Bureau must be brash why you are unable to nourish. The merely fourth dimension you tin can be entirely excused from jury duty is if you accept served on a jury earlier inside the previous 2 years.

What virtually the financial implications of beingness forced to nourish jury duty?

If at that place is a significant downside to the jury system, information technology is the fact that jury duty is just that, it is a 'duty', and is therefore unpaid. You are allowed to submit a claim for living expenses incurred, including accommodation and nutrient, transport, etc., but yous cannot claim for lost earnings.

Curiously, while your employer cannot sack you for lack of attendance if you are on a jury for a particularly long-lasting trial, they are under no obligation to pay you while yous are away from work.

Withal, providing your employer agrees, and subject to financial limitations, they can pay you lot and complete a Certificate for Loss of Earnings class.

The problem is worse for those who are self-employed, and there have been many instances where jury service has caused tremendous financial issues for jurors. While the average trial by jury lasts 10 days, there are notable exceptions such equally the trial of Edwin and Lorraine McLaren , who were charged in 2017 with 29 counts of belongings fraud. While the jurors had been warned that the trial might concluding up to vi months, it lasted for over 20 months!

The financial cost can stretch across the time spent sitting on a jury

There is some other aspect of jury duty that can have a drastic financial effect, and that is the inability to work afterwards, or having the quality of your work affected by having spent time sitting on a jury. In the case mentioned above, i for the jurors, a woman who was a travel agent, returned to work, attended a ii-day grooming grade, and was then unable to continue working owing to the mental toll the ultra-long trial had taken on her.

Similarly, many jurors have struggled to cope with the effects of sitting on a jury where there has been a peculiarly horrific crime involved, such as kid abuse, or infanticide. Once again, the but financial assistance jurors can obtain if they are unable to return to work immediately is sickness benefit, which is a mere fraction of a standard wage.

Takeaway

Your employer must allow yous fourth dimension off if you are chosen up to serve on a jury. They can not discriminate confronting you for going on jury service.

Your employer tin ask you to endeavour to filibuster your jury service if your absence would seriously harm their business. You will need a alphabetic character from them explaining why.

If yous have been dismissed for going on jury service, you lot could take your employer to an employment tribunal. Contact an employment lawyer now!