All last week I was in SurrenderLand,

[CaNsA]

drinking beer, eating good food and putting on weight.
Arrived home on Friday to a red letter with "Her Majesty's Courts" on the back.

Arse = Dropped.

Opened it up and...
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10629728_10154647246095790_7203189603992743144_n.jpg?oh=d3021b0ba825eaf7b72646a01eea35bc&oe=54856D2A&__gda__=1418448017_ec67ebdbeb08ac9cf23c51d47984f388

Quids in?

[temeluchus]

demand the death sentence.
____________________
Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[Lord Percy]

Is it true that it's an offense or something if you don't go?

[Fisty]

You must wear a nobcat t shirt.
____________________
Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[Wonko The Sane]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Sable]

Jury service is worth doing. Once at least.

You don't have to stand up in court and read out the sentence if you don't want to. There's always some busybody who is eager to do it. The staff at both places I have done jury service at were good. There's is a lot of sitting around between cases. Especially if you don't get chosen to go in (its random).

Most days I was finished by lunch time or 3pm.

Although in two cases I was put in with a bunch if mongs, both times I have been on jury service I have heard stories of how its done in other countries from the staff. Although our justice system is far from perfect, it gave me a great deal of positivity towards our system, as it is a lot fairer than a lot of countries.

I was also left feeling that its a civic duty for those with their heads screwed on to act as jury.

If you haven't done it before, go do it. Its worth it.

[MC]

One of my pals went for jury service, told them he suffered from depression, and was dismissed. He said when he was there 2 guys came running out and were sick, so he didn't want to see the kinda stuff they have to look at.
____________________
Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[doggone]

Yes I would do it for the experience and insight if it isn't too impossible.
You could actually end up sat waiting for a case the whole two weeks and not actually get picked. Some days you will get let off early

[angryjonny]

Take a lot of books. I did a fortnight's jury service of which about half a day was spent in a trial. The rest of it was spent sat in the break room drinking tea and reading.

It's a nice fortnight off work, as long as your employer covers the gulf between your lost income and the piffling amount they give you for doing jury service. If you're self employed or your employer is less understanding then it's financially painful. Better hope you don't get put on a juicy murder or something in that case - some trials can run for months.

[Ste]

[Fisty]

I have done it twice, the first was a rape case. It lasted 4 hours. The woman admitted she lied. We were dismissed.

The second I have no idea what it was for, we were dismissed before we even got into the court room.
____________________
Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[MC]

[sabian92]

[Polarbear]

Being in the merchant navy is a get out.

We are obviously untrustworthy free thinkers who would ignore the judge
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Andy_Pagin]

Two thirds of people called for jury service manage to avoid it https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/twothirds--of-people-avoid-jury-service-739677.html

I reckon if CaNsa sends the court a link to a list of his BCF posts that should get him off.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[CaNsA]

I'm going to do it, even if it's just for shits n giggles.

Should be interesting, and they payout upto £35ish a day for the 1st 10days and £60ish a day for anything over.

[MC]

So they select you from the electoral roll? No chance in me doing it then
____________________
Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Sable]

A run through for how it all worked at Harrow Magistrates.

Everyone arrives on the Monday and sits through a 1-2 hour long introduction and name call. You say nothing, just sit and watch videos mostly.

You then had to sit, socialize, read, and wait until your name was called to go into a jury. The waiting can be vast and wait'yness. My first week was spent waiting as my name was not called at all.

We had a large seating and and canteen, you could sit in either area while waiting. There is a lot of people there, and always someone to socialize with.

There is an hours break in the middle of the day when the courts send out all the jury (unless you are deliberating) for lunch. You can leave the building, go to shops, or eat in the canteen.

Often if there is no new cases in the afternoon, if you have not been called, you come back from lunch, sit down for half an hour and they may send you home. The staff at Harrow were fantastic and knew it was all an inconvenience to tried be as least disruptive as possible.

When you are called, they call up 13-16 people at random. You are told roughly how long they expect the trial to last. You all go through to the court. 12 members at random are called up onto the stand. You swear in by standing up and reading 1-2 lines off a card. You then stay seated and listen to everything. Prosecution first, then defence, then the judge runs over the case.

You then go into deliberation (sp?). You sit in a back room and discuss the case between yourselves. Decide on a guilty or not guilty. The group then elects someone to deliver the verdict. In every single case I did somebody always volunteered. There is always one busy body or someone who doesn’t mind doing it. While you are in deliberation you cannot leave. If lunch occurs, they bring you food from a menu.

You then all go back in, deliver the verdict, the judge then does sentencing or delays sentencing to a later date. Then you leave. If its early you go back to the waiting room, if there is no more cases to do that day, you leave.

As far as deliberating over a weekend is concerned and rumours of staying in hotels, that doesn’t happen at magistrates court any more. Also as said a few times, the staff are aware its an inconvenience and try not to give people 2 week trials on their secound week.

The most common thing people seem to worry about is standing up in court. If someone is honestly scared to stand up in a room of people and read 2 lines off a piece of card, they have failed at life, and jury service is not for them.

Edited to add :

One last thing. You are allowed internets while waiting between cases. Mobile phones, laptops, kindles and kobos. I even believe at Harrow they had some PCs in a corner and WiFi. Though the wifi was worse than my shonky 3g from the canteen. I agree with the above posters that say take books. For me, the waiting between cases was the worst thing. There is only so many web pages you can browse, and mobile games you can play before boredom sets in. I got unlucky on my first week though. Everybody else saw at least 1 case.

[-Matt-]

[Tracey Suntan-King]

I'm well jealous. I've been on this planet for over half a century and they've never asked me! I've always wanted to do it.

I expect I'll be too old soon and disbarred on the grounds of senility.
____________________
Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're probably right

[scorps]

my OH had to go, it would appear a 6'3 mohican sporting tattooed headed chap in jeans and black bomber jacket was enough to put them off keeping him.
____________________
Do not presume that I am male.

[carlosthejack...]

[JP7]

[Ste]