I’ve just spent 3 weeks on Jury Service at Leeds Crown Court and thought I’d write about the experience. I know most people don’t get the opportunity to do this (Helen was quite jealous!); I calculated that, in the Leeds’ catchment area, there is about a 1 in 4 chance of your being called up in your lifetime.
When the letter came through the post, I was a bit worried. You see the word ‘Summons’ in big letters on the top of the first page (‘Oh rats! They’ve found out about that …’) and you really have to attend. Any thoughts about feigning illness or having to visit your dear granny cannot be entertained.
The normal period of the summons is for a maximum of 2 weeks but with the possibility of this extending beyond depending on the complexity of the case(s).
When you arrive at the court on the first day, you are processed: fill in a few forms (to claim your subsistence – £5.71 a day, and travel costs), watch a video then marched into a huge holding area with about a hundred other potential jurors (‘The Pool’)...
Blog continued here: andyobsandgripes.wordpress.com/2017/10/11/gob-14-jury-service/
When the letter came through the post, I was a bit worried. You see the word ‘Summons’ in big letters on the top of the first page (‘Oh rats! They’ve found out about that …’) and you really have to attend. Any thoughts about feigning illness or having to visit your dear granny cannot be entertained.
The normal period of the summons is for a maximum of 2 weeks but with the possibility of this extending beyond depending on the complexity of the case(s).
When you arrive at the court on the first day, you are processed: fill in a few forms (to claim your subsistence – £5.71 a day, and travel costs), watch a video then marched into a huge holding area with about a hundred other potential jurors (‘The Pool’)...
Blog continued here: andyobsandgripes.wordpress.com/2017/10/11/gob-14-jury-service/