Has anyone else done jury service in the UK? Any tips on what to expect?
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Has anyone else done jury service in the UK? Any tips on what to expect?
Off to gaol with 'em, that'll teach them buggers.Quote:
Any tips
Remember that everyone is presumed guilty until found innocent, and you should be ready to go.
No I have not.
My family includes a number of lawyers in the similar Australian legal system.
You'll probably go through a selection process where you'll be turned away if you're too smart, too dumb, too left-wing, too right-wing, too interesting, too dull, too learned, too ingnorant...(are you getting the picture?). If given a spot, don't be insulted but do be patient, you'll have to listen to a lot of guff and forget things people say in court if the judge directs you to do so. Do nmot tell anyone outside what happens in the jury room ever. I believe its a crime to do so.
Of course it may be that the UK legal system is less like Australia, and more like UK TV. In which case the facts will seem to clearly indicate the accused is guilty until the final act when the entertaining quirky sleuth/grumpy copper/sexy spy will arrive panting in court with THE CLUE which led him/her to THE EVIDENCE and extracts the public CONFESSION from the real culprit, at which point the judge will dismiss the charges and you will have wasted a week of your life for nothing.
Pfft, common law.
Well I have seen quite a few crime shows here in America so i'm kind of an expert on this and since we saved your butts in WW2, I'm assuming you have adopted our laws and customs as a sign of gratitude and recognizing that America is #1 in everything, but anyway back onto something that not everyone knows (unlike what I was just talking about)...so what you do is have Grissom...err scratch that....have Morpheus find the evidence for you and present it to the judge at which point the guys from Boston Legal and NCIS start arguing for the defendant while all the Law and Order people tag team together arguing for the prosecution. Once the trial ends, you wake up from your 6 hour nap and start running your mouth to the other jury members about things that have little to do with the case and try to use it to support your poorly informed opinion using numerous logical fallacies (i'm talking at least 3 fallacies here, ad hominem is good but over used, get creative), after you guys give your verdict of guilty (because if he is there in the first place he must be guilty, amiright?) the judge will give him the mandatory sentence of either a slap on the wrist or 10X the usual sentence for the crime. The entire thing ends at that point when the judge signals the government to take him away by burning incense that gives off white smoke. After that, a brand new one is started all over again, signaled by the entrance of David Caruso into the courthouse, him putting on a pair of sunglasses, then giving a stupid one liner followed by a piercing YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, from the bailiff who happens to be the lead singer from The Who since NBC needed to a new gimmick to keep the show popular for another season.
Sources: Wikipedia, American television
Oh, and one of the jurors is a total racist and everyone has to give him the silent treatment.
No we've been post racism since we elected Obama.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Very Super Market
The force is strong with youQuote:
Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name
Remember, when the psychos get out again, they're gonna come after the jury members first. You'll have to watch yourself forever after every guilty verdict.
No practical advice on what to expect then.
If UK jury selection is anything like the US system you'll sit in a group of prospective jurors in some court room with the judge, prosecutor, and defense lawyer. Your name will be pulled at random from those present and you will be interviewed by the prosecutor & defense lawyer in turn. Depending on what the possible case is about they'll tailor their questions to gauge if you will hear the facts with an open mind, have any conflicts of interest with the parties involved, your beliefs/feelings toward general points of law or compensation etc. The Judge will referee the interview process. Could take 5 minutes, could take 30. Then both the prosecutor & defense must agree to accept you on the jury, if either votes no, then your obligation has been fulfilled and you're released to go on your way. The worst thing is being in a large group of jury prospects and having to sit there all day without ever getting called to interview. That's a looong day.
I did jury service in 09. My most important piece of advice: bring a good book and a repertoire of small talk! If your experience is anything like mine was, you'll spend a long time sitting in a room with all the other jurors waiting to get called.
Although you're doing jury service, you won't necessarily be on a jury. For a period of two weeks you'll be 'on call'. You have to go in to the court every day, and when a case comes up you may be selected for the jury. So be prepared to do nothing for long periods of time.
EDIT:
What you actually do when you get on a jury will be explained to you reasonably well once you get there. The waiting was what struck me the most.
Quote:
Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name
Quote:
Originally Posted by A Very Super Market
Quote:
Originally Posted by a completely inoffensive name
best. thread. evar.
in all seriousness though: if you want to get out of it, just act as racist/close-minded and biased as possible.
Good news is it's likely to last for a maximum of 2 weeks as Myrddraal says, and I'm excused for 2 years following this. Bad news is I'm not under 18, nor over 70, nor a former prisoner, nor mad, so I can't get out of it. Thanks to Myrddraal and Hosakawa for offering constructive advice.
I know something about this, but I forgot about three beers back.
If you get put on a Jury you may be excused after the first case and not need to come back at all. If you have to sit on a particularly horrible case you can be excused for longer than 2 years.
Got picked on my first day, and the case lasted into the third week. By the end, we were completely stressed out. Oh well, at least I'm exempt now for at least a couple of years.
Congrats on completing your duty. Do you get paid for your 3 weeks work?
Expenses only. Other than the short bit of excitement, or rather, frustration, of deliberation at the end, my overriding impression was extreme boredom, the counsels endlessly going through huge piles of evidence, and the jurors trying hard not to nod off. They provide free coffee during deliberation, but it should have been available during the sitting as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by KukriKhan
Sounds like a hard case if it lasted three weeks. The only case I ended up on was easy, open and shut on the same day. At least you didn't have to sit around doing nothing at all for too long...