Contents
How is a UK jury selected
Principle – Article 6(1) ECHR requires trial by an independent and impartial tribunal. The general principles are:
- Members of a jury should be selected at random from the panel, subject to any rule of law as to right of challenge.
- The Juries Act 1974 identifies those classes of person who alone are disqualified from or ineligible for service on a jury. No other class of persons may be treated as disqualified or ineligible.
- The correct way for the Crown to seek to exclude a member of the panel from sitting as a juror is by the exercise in open court of the right to request a stand by or challenge for cause.
- The procedure for objecting to potential jurors is contained in the Criminal Procedure Rules 25.8 and the prosecution must announce the exercise of its right before the juror completes the oath or affirmation.
The parties to any jury trial may inspect a copy of the panel from which the jury in their trial will be chosen, in order to:
- Enable the parties to inquire about members of the panel; and
- Decide whether any should be challenged.
Can a judge overrule a jury UK
Can a judge overrule a guilty verdict? Yes. If the verdict is clearly unreasonable, the defence can ask for a ‘judgment notwithstanding verdict’.
What are the odds of getting jury duty in the UK
Jury Service is one of those things that comes around so rarely, no one really knows how it works! If you’re selected to go down to a court and serve as a juror, you might have some worries about what this means for your money. And that’s why we’re going to look at the financial side of Jury Service such as loss of earnings and expenses.
When you’re called to Jury Service (sometimes called Jury Duty), you’ll sit in on a trial as a juror. Typically, you’ll serve for 10 working days. When someone has been charged with doing something illegal, they’ll have to go to a court where all the evidence surrounding what happened will be looked at.
The Judge will oversee everything, but it’s a group of 12 people chosen at random, the jurors, who’ll decide whether the defendant is guilty or not. Expenses depend on how you’ll get to court. If you’re using public transport, like a bus or train, you’ll need to keep your ticket and give it back to the court when you’re done as proof of what you spent.
- If you’re using a car or a bicycle, you’ll just need to tell the court how far you’ve travelled and you’ll get an expense paid per mile.
- Make friends with a few of the jurors and see who lives nearby.
- That way you can claim for a passenger as well.
- You can claim 4.2p per mile for the first passenger, and 3.2p per mile for each additional passenger.
With a 31.4p rate for each mile on your own, if you fill four passenger seats in your car, you’ll be able to claim 45.2p per mile. If your car averages 40 miles per gallon, it only costs you 13p a mile in fuel! Normally you won’t have to keep each individual receipt for the food you buy at lunch.
- That’s because the food allowance of £5.71 a day is paid for every day you’re in court.
- What’s better is you’ll get the money even if you bring in food from home.
- Pack your own lunch.
- You’ll get the £5.71 anyway and can put it aside for something else.
- And, if you’re in court for more than 10 hours, the rate more than doubles to £12.17.
The big one for a lot of people is pay. Many employers will pay your normal salary when you’re on Jury Service. But a lot won’t, so you’ll need to check. If they don’t, you’ll need to take a Certificate of Loss of Earnings or Benefit form for them to fill out.
- You’ll get this in the post.
- Then just hand it to the court.
- If you receive benefits, you’ll also need to complete a Certificate of Loss of Earnings or Benefit form and hand it into the court.
- If you receive Job Seekers Allowance, you can just keep claiming that for up to eight weeks.
- If you’re self-employed, you’ll need to ask for a Certificate of Loss of Earnings for Self-employed Jurors form.
You’ll then get compensation from the court. The amounts start at £32.47 per day if you’re at court for four hours or less, and then £64.95 per day if you’re at court for longer. If you need to serve for more than 10 days, you’ll get a higher rate. The first thing to remember about childcare costs is that the court will pay for the cost of extra childcare that you would not normally need.
- So, if you always have child costs because of, for example, your job, you can’t claim anything.
- To claim, you need to ask the court for the Juror’s childcare, vulnerable adult, elderly care provision expenses claim form.
- Then your childcare provider will need to complete the form for you before you hand it to the court.
You’ll also need a passport or birth certificate for your child, proof of their address, plus a receipt from your childminder. The second important point is that the maximum that can be claimed is £64.95 per day, including your loss of earnings. So, if you’re already claiming for loss of earnings, you won’t get any extra to cover childcare costs.
- The chances of being called for Jury Service actually vary depending on where you live.
- In England and Wales, the chance is 35%.
- Only about half of those people will spend any time in court.
- In Scotland, the chances are much higher at 95%.
- Of those people, only 30% will actually be in court as part of a jury.
The difference in chance is because in Scotland juries are made up of 15 people, while in England and Wales the jury is only made up of 12. Scotland also typically asks a lot more people per required jury compared to England and Wales. Source: BBC
Can students get jury duty UK?
To be qualified to serve on a jury, you must: be 18 years of age or older. There’s no upper age limit for serving on a jury, but you can be excused from jury service if you’re 71 years of age or older and you don’t want to serve on a jury. be on the electoral register.
What is the longest time a jury has deliberated UK?
The longest UK deliberations* were held in Glasgow, lasting 20 months, with the court sitting for 320 days. The charges were fraud related.
Does everyone get called for jury duty UK?
Other benefits and allowances – You might be receiving Incapacity Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), statutory sick pay, Adult Disability Payment, Personal Independence Payment or Severe Disablement Allowance when you’re summoned for jury service.
Do you get paid for jury duty UK?
You will not be paid for doing jury service, but you can claim some money back if your earnings are affected. For each day you’re at court, you can usually claim:
up to £64.95 to help cover your loss of earnings and the cost of any care or childcare outside of your usual arrangements £5.71 for food and drink the cost of travel to and from court
You’ll be told how to claim expenses after your jury service has ended.
Are military exempt from jury duty UK?
2. Summoning officer’s discretion – 4/. The expectation is that everyone summoned for jury service will serve at the time for which they are summoned. It is recognised that there will be occasions where it is not reasonable for a person summoned to serve at the time for which they are summoned.
- In such circumstances, the summoning officer should exercise discretion to defer the individual’s service to a more appropriate time.
- Only in exceptional circumstances should a person be excused from jury service in relation to that summons.
- When exercising this discretion, summoning officers should observe the following principles: 5/.
Section 8(1) of the Juries Act 1974 (“the 1974 Act”) provides that a person summoned who shows (to the satisfaction of the appropriate officer) that they have already served on a jury, or duly attended to serve on a jury, within the two years preceding the date of their summons, shall be excused from jury service.
When a person claims to have served within the prescribed period of two years, their statement should normally be accepted, subject to checking against records.6/. An application for excusal on the grounds of insufficient understanding of English should normally be granted. If in doubt, or the issue arises when the juror attends court, the juror may be brought before the judge as prescribed by section 10 of the 1974 Act.7/.
When considering applications for deferral or excusal on the grounds of caring responsibilities, summoning officers should consider deferral in the first instance. Expectant parents (whose child has not yet been born or where a child is due to be placed with them for adoption); new parents (with an infant or child younger than compulsory school age) ; and breastfeeding mothers may be considered for an excusal if they cannot do jury service within the next twelve months because of their caring responsibilities.
Paragraph 4 (above) applies.8/. Applications for excusal from members of enclosed religious orders, from practising members of religious societies and orders, and from members of secular organisations whose ideology, or beliefs, are incompatible with jury service should usually be granted. If evidence for either situation is not provided, it should be requested before the excusal application is further considered.
Where jury service conflicts with an applicant’s religious festival it should be deferred.9/. Those applying for excusal because the court to which they have been summoned is difficult for them to reach should be offered an alternative court to attend.10/.
Deferral, rather than excusal, should be granted for holidays. Paragraph 4 (above) applies.11/. Potential jurors may be excused for valid business reasons. Applications of this type should, however, be looked at closely and granted only if there would be unusual hardship if not excused. A small business where such hardship might be suffered, or an employed charity worker whose absence may cause undue hardship to the charity or its beneficiaries, are such examples, although each case must be considered on its individual merits.
Paragraph 4 (above) applies.12/. Applications for excusal by shift workers and night workers should be dealt with sympathetically. A shift worker should be deferred to a period where they do not have to attend on a scheduled rest day.13/. Cases of hardship may occasionally arise where a student, who depends on obtaining employment during the vacation in order to meet financial or vocational commitments, is summoned for jury service before taking up such employment and is subsequently refused payment for loss of earnings, because no actual loss of earnings has occurred.
Where an application for excusal or deferral is made by a student on these grounds it should be treated sympathetically, otherwise genuine financial hardship may be caused.14/. Applications for excusal from teachers or students during term time, and particularly during exam periods, should be deferred in the first instance.
Paragraph 4 (above) applies.15/. Those who apply for excusal on grounds that jury service would conflict with important public duties should normally be deferred. Paragraph 4 (above) applies.16/. Members of Parliament who seek excusal of jury service on the grounds of Parliamentary duties should be deferred in the first instance.
- If an MP feels that it would be inappropriate to do jury service in their constituency, they should be allowed to do it elsewhere.
- Paragraph 4 (above) applies.17/.
- The Speaker of the House of Commons and deputy speakers, because of the difficulties their absence from the House would cause, should in the first instance be deferred to a time when Parliament is not sitting.
Paragraph 4 (above) applies.18/. Members of the judiciary or those involved in the administration of justice who apply for excusal or deferral on grounds that they may be known to a party or parties involved in the trial should normally be deferred or moved to an alternative court where the grounds for deferral or excusal may not apply.
employees of the prosecuting authority; police officers summoned to a court which receives work from their police station or who are likely to have a shared local service background with police witnesses in the trial; prison officers summoned to a court, who are employed at a prison linked to that court or who are likely to have special knowledge of any person involved in a trial.
Potential jurors falling into category (1), (2) or (3) should be excused from jury service unless there is a suitable alternative court or trial to which they can be transferred. For example, an employee of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) should not serve on a trial prosecuted by the CPS.
However, they can serve on a trial prosecuted by another prosecuting authority, such as the Environment Agency. Similarly, a police officer can serve where there is no particular link between the court and the station where the police officer works.19/. Full-time serving members of the Armed Forces will be deferred or excused jury service in cases where their commanding officer certifies that their absence would be prejudicial to the efficiency of the service in question (see section 9A(1A) and 9(2A) of the 1974 Act).20/.
Applications for excusal on the grounds that jury service will conflict with work commitments should be deferred in the first instance, unless excusal is clearly necessary. Each case will of course need to be considered on its own merits. Applications for excusal or deferral cannot be accepted from third parties, e.g.
- Employers.
- Paragraph 4 (above) applies.21/.
- Applications for excusal on the grounds of a physical disability which would make jury service difficult to undertake should be considered sympathetically.
- Such applications should normally be considered without the need for a medical certificate to be produced.
However, a certificate should be requested if the summoning officer considers that one is necessary to support an application for excusal on the grounds of physical disability (for example, where there is uncertainty as to the illness/ disability), or where one is required for an appeal against non-excusal.
Can you talk about a case after jury duty UK?
Do not discuss the trial with anyone until it’s finished, except with other jury members in the deliberation room. After the trial you must not talk about what happened in the deliberation room, even with family members. You can talk about what happened in the courtroom.