o/t - anyone been excused from jury duty?

[jenfirstbaby]

I've been summoned

Got a letter through at the weekend, I've been picked for Jury duty at the high court. Great, not even the sheriff court, the high court! So itl prob be a murder trial or something! Could go on for weeks.

Anyway, im due to fly out to see my dad a few days after the first day. There's a letter which I can fill in and return for excusal, but it says the high court is less likely to excuse you.

Even if I wasn't going away, I wouldn't have anyone to look after LO, especially if it goes on for weeks.

Has anyone been excused before? I've put im due to travel (need to include flight confirmation) and also that im on maternity leave. Really hope they don't say no x

 

[shelx]

Not me, but my mum was excused for medical problems. Her GP had to write a letter a that was it. They might ask you to provide proof of travel details and stuff? But there should be no problem and they will just put your name back on the list. I also think if you have a young baby that might be a good enough reason too. Unless they want you to bring her too?

 

[Toms Mummy]

I'd have thought that the fact you're on Mat leave would be a reason enough.... as you're not working at the time, and I think you're supposed to be working in order to do jury duty x

 

[jenfirstbaby]

Thanks for ur reply yeah I have to send them the flight confirmation. I'm just worried that they will say no coz its the high court. It says on the letter they may not be able to grant excusal ., think it depends what the case is etc. They've only given 3 weeks notice which I think is a bit crappy.

I phoned up to ask about putting maternity leave as an excuse and the lady said it should be fine,. So hopefully if I mention both they'll excuse me. They call U again within a year :\

Yeah il just tell them if they don't excuse me il have to breastfeed in the court room haha x

 

[babydevil1989]

i 'think' there is something to say that if you have a young baby and your breastfeeding you can be excused. dont quote me on that tho x

 

[dgirllamius]

I was summoned to do that while I was uni. I had to get my course leader to write me a letter saying it would be impossible for me to do it. I think just proof that you're going away will be okay. I never got called again after that and that was in 2006. Even if they called me again now I still couldn't do it as I don't even live in the UK anymore.

 

[jenfirstbaby]

Nah they won't call U if U don't live in the UK

Thanks girls, hopefully il get out of it then. Would hate to have to cancel my flights x

 

[gingajewel]

I cancelled when Megan was 3 months old, but they do make it clear you can only defer once and you HAVE to do it next time (there are a few exceptions to this rule) I ended up doing it when Megan was 14 months old and tbh i struggled finding childcare as she was only at nursery two days a week.

In England you only have to do it for two weeks and they ask you at the start if you cant do it any longer. I said i couldnt because of childcare issues.

Hope that helps a little x

 

[lindseymw]

I deferred it twice. 1st time I was on holiday, didn't need to provide travel details. 2nd time I was due DS1 the week of the trial.....

I did it when DS1 was about 6months old....it was the longest two weeks of my life...sooooooo boring.

 

[nugget80]

I was called and start date was 10 days after due date...! Needless to say i was excused... That was 10 yrs ago and not been called since...

 

[x_Rainbow_x]

i was excused twice, Be prepared if they excuse you they can re summon you again straight after.

I got summoned at the local court that was only small, but got excused as i was moving, 3 months later i got called up to the big court. Luckily i was in no frame of mind to do it so i was excused permanatly.

 

[lhancock90]

It baffles me that they can force women with kids who have no childcare to do it.

 

[jenfirstbaby]

I know. If you don't turn up you get a fine! I'm a single parent so even if I wasn't going away, id seriously struggle to get child care. Especially if the case lasted weeks, which it could !

 

[lhancock90]

Actually, i'll rephrase it. It baffles me that they can force anyone to do it!

 

[jenfirstbaby]

I wouldn't mind if I didn't have a child. Coz U get off work and they reimburse you for it lol think it would be quite interesting x

 

[RachA]

I've been excused. I was summoned when Esther was 7 months old and i was breastfeeding her. I told them this and i was excused. I was then summoned again 6 months later and i was still feeding. As it was only 3 x a day i decided to do the jury service as i didn't want to risk them saying i had to do it anyway.

As you are away i think they will excuse you. Being on Mat leave isn't a good enough excuse. You will get money for childcare for your child so i would advise that if you have to do it at some point then bare that in mind. I was given money for the childminder even though in the end i wasn't needed for the day that the childminder was booked for.

 

[RachA]

Oh and they will talk to you when you are there and they advise you if a trail is likely to last more than the 2 weeks jury service you are called for. At that point you can say that you can't do it more than the 2 weeks. As i had two children they took that into account - i was needed for the first week. The second week they told me not to go in as the cases they were dealing with were likely to be long cases.

You will get a lunch allowance and if you don't use it they give the money after you have finished. I only used it each day for 1 coffee and so at the end of the week i got something like £20. As i said above - they do pay you for child care so it is possible for you to sort childcare out.

 

[kmbabycrazy]

If you have a pre-booked holiday you can be excused here's a link for you

(BTW it says it will just be deferred but many people don't get called again)

https://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Lifestyle_and_Leisure/Article/What_Happens_if_I_am_Chosen_for_Jury_Service-100300.html

 

[buttonnose82]

I did because I was at uni at the time and had to complete so many hours placement every week otherwise I wouldn't have been able to complete my course, they allowed me to no attend

 

[twilight28]

I was excused once when I was about 19 as I was at uni and they classed it as f/t education. Got called up again a couple of years ago and went for two weeks, good experience and found it really interesting - would recommend if you get the chance to go again in the future