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Failure to Attend Jury Service

By: Dave Howell - Updated: 21 Feb 2024 | comments*Discuss
 
Court County Court Magistrates’ Court

Everyone that is between the ages of 18 and 70 who appears on the electoral register is eligible for jury service. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 enshrined in law that anyone that is eligible for jury service must attend unless they can show evidence that explains why they can’t be a juror on the current case, or a juror in the future. Permanent exclusion can be applied for, but you must produce evidence to support your argument.

Failing to Attend Due to Incapacity

It is your responsibility while you are a serving jury member to make sure you are at the court on time when your jury is sitting, or so you can wait to see if you are picked for jury duty. You must also ensure you are not under the influence of drugs or drink. If you are, you could be fined up to £1,000.

When you are summoned for jury duty you may have an event or other circumstances that mean you won’t be able to serve during the dates that have been requested by the Jury Central Summoning Bureau who will have sent you the jury summons letter. You must respond to the jury-summoning letter within 7 days.

If you to have a prior commitment you can apply for your jury service to be deferred. You can only apply for this once and the deferment can only last for up to one year. You can also apply to be excluded from this current or future jury service. To do this you need to respond to the letter you were sent about your jury service from the Jury Central Summoning Bureau giving details about why you can’t be a member of a jury. If you live in Northern Ireland, you need to contact the Jury Management Team on 028 7126 1329. And in Scotland you can contact civil jurors court of session on: 0131 240 6772 or for criminal jurors at the high court of justiciary on: 0131 240 6907. You should receive a response about your request for jury deferment within 10 days.

Jury Service Exemptions

There are a number of circumstances when you will not be required to perform jury service. These include:

  • If you are suffering from, or have suffered from a mental health problem. This includes if you are in a hospital, visit a doctor for treatment regularly, or you are in guardianship under section 7 of the Mental Health Act 1983.
  • If you are on bail or have every served a prison sentence.

Coping with Jury Service

The cases that you may be asked to serve on can be quite harrowing if the crime is serious. If you feel that you cannot continue as a jury member because of the stress it is causing you, it is important that you inform the court as soon as possible. Under no circumstances simply don’t turn up for your jury service as this will cause the court delays. You could face a fine or even more serious charges if you fail to tell the court you will not be able to attend. The courts understand that jury service can be stressful, so talk to them as they can help you.

You could also talk to your GP or the Samaritans. The Samaritans are trained to support people in highly emotional situations. The courts service has discussed with the Samaritans how jurors may need supporting if they call. Remember though that you can only talk about your feelings about the case you are a juror on, or have just finished. You cannot by law discuss any details of the case with anyone including the Samaritans.

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I would just ignore the letter. Bin it then if if it does hit the fan just say you never knew. Even then if they call me in I would refuse to share or afirm as I disagree with the juridical system. And the fact the I am being forced under duress to attend.
Paul778883 - 21-Feb-24 @ 4:41 AM
I got a jury summons today saying ive been picked to attend a jury summon at the end of january 2024and its not even in my town as our courts closed down so i would need to travel 30 miles to the court out of town well i suffer with insomnia and i cant sleep at night and allways get to sleep in the early hours of the morning any time from 5,00 to 8.00am every night for the last 24 years now and they expect me to be at the court for 9.00am and to travel to well its nothing going to happen i need my sleep they can do what the hell they want fined me i dont care but what these people are doing is going against my human rights and my free will i think this all sticks why dont they leave people alone some people are to ill to go and most people need to earn a living and not lose their wages if they want a jury they should advertise for people who want to do this kind of thing i'm sure there are plenty out theree that want to do it and not to pick out people at radom from the electoral roll which most people they pick wont want to go do it the government need to change this stupid law its as rubbish as they are
Ernie - 5-Dec-23 @ 10:28 PM
I got a jury summons today saying ive been picked to attend a jury summon at the end of january 2024and its not even in my town as our courts closed down so i would need to travel 30 miles to the court out of town well i suffer with insomnia and i cant sleep at night and allways get to sleep in the early hours of the morning any time from 5,00 to 8.00am every night for the last 24 years now and they expect me to be at the court for 9.00am and to travel to well its nothing going to happen i need my sleep they can do what the hell they want fined me i dont care but what these people are doing is going against my human rights and my free will i think this all sticks why dont they leave people alone some people are to ill to go and most people need to earn a living and not lose their wages if they want a jury they should advertise for people who want to do this kind of thing i'm sure there are plenty out theree that want to do it and not to pick out people at radom from the electoral roll which most people they pick wont want to go do it the government need to change this stupid law its as rubbish as they are
Ernie - 5-Dec-23 @ 10:26 PM
I got fined £5000 from failure to attend why I don’t know it doesn’t feel right and I need help massively, the whole proceeding was unprofessional to begin with and there was a spew of lies
Corn - 25-Nov-23 @ 5:33 PM
I received a summons for jury duty so immediately emailed them to tell them about all of my problems both mental and physical and told them I'd be applying for an Excusal. I saw my GP who prepared a letter. I asked for the letter at the Dr's surgery just over a week later and they told me that it had been posted. Why on earth did the Court just try to call me?? I know that the Dr's surgery have let me down because I did what I had to do. What else could I have done??
Stacey/Nov2023 - 8-Nov-23 @ 3:52 PM
I have heart failure and angina if i worry about a sitiation . Do i still have to do it
Paulgee - 5-Nov-23 @ 9:06 AM
I’m off to court Wednesday for failure to attend jury service as my note from doctors came 2 days late after the proposed start of my service reasons are that my anxiety would not be able to take it now they are making me come in to charge me I fear the worst will happen
Dan - 22-Sep-23 @ 3:02 AM
my English is not at that level and I don't think I will be useful, but when I told them they didn't believe me, they even raised my voice
Doc - 12-Sep-23 @ 11:11 AM
Iv been forced to do jury duty against my freewill. So I will go against the rest of the jurers and vote opposite
Diandal - 30-Aug-23 @ 10:26 AM
Hello, Three years ago I received a jury summons. I ignored it and threw the letter in the bin. Absolutely nothing happened to me. People who wish to ignore a jury summons have nothing to fear.
Beanpole - 27-Aug-23 @ 1:46 PM
my transport coordinator has been on Jury service since May, and they keep putting the end date back. At the moment it is not due to finish until October! It is killing having to cover 2 roles for this amount of time. His role is very specific to our company, and it takes around 3months to train someone to do it. Because it was only meant to a 4 week case, we never hired someone to cover. The court keeps changing the end date, making it impossible to know what to do. The court occasionally gives him "non sitting" days which means he can work those days, but if I hire someone, Ill be paying 2 people for those days! It is ridicules that the time period isn't set, so the case has to be concluded in that time. is there anything we can do to end this hell.
mojo - 15-Jul-23 @ 9:58 AM
I have no money spare for travel,how am I supposed to get to the court?
Harry - 14-Jul-23 @ 8:15 AM
Why press gang people to attend jury service who will face financial losses through loss of earnings and therefore will not be interested in the trial one way or the other and chances are will just go with the majority of the other jurors just to get it over with. If everyone else connected with the trial is getting paid then so should the jury panel.
Rigger - 28-Jun-23 @ 7:56 PM
My apologies to McClennan County Courts for accidently not showing up for Jury Duty Summons! I worked twelve and a halfhours on my shift on June 10, 2023 and 9:16 hours on June 11, 2023 and on June 12, I didn't hear my alarm! I was extremely fatigued. Regina Kiriakos
Gina! - 14-Jun-23 @ 12:15 AM
I have asthma am I exempt from jury service ?
Mum - 17-Mar-23 @ 9:56 AM
I have deferred my jury service once already and am to due to go in 2 weeks but my Mum has died and the Funeral is during the time I am on jury service, will they excuse me?
T - 25-Jan-23 @ 1:05 PM
I get anxiety and no way will I survive this jury service. Doctor won't give me the letter to avoid it. So if you've murdered 500 people I may believe you didn't do it as I won't be able to concentrate due to trying not pass out with anxiety. It's such an unfair system and should be people who want to be there as I wouldn't trust the people who are forced to be their under duress.
annoyed - 13-Jan-23 @ 11:43 AM
I was summoned for jury duty but I noticed that the letter was not recorded delivery so they can't prove I even received it so I just threw it in the bin. Unfortunately my girlfriend saw me do it and we split up a week later and now she says she is going to tell the court I did receive it after all so will I still have to go? I was thinking of making up with my girlfriend until after the court date and then dumping her again. Would that work?
Joe - 17-Dec-22 @ 3:57 PM
These comments are jokes
Dmtre - 27-Oct-22 @ 9:19 AM
I am unable to attend Jusry duty due to automobile accident in 2016 I am suffering with Neuropathy and injuries I got are some I suffer mental issues from
Jenny - 12-Sep-22 @ 2:07 PM
And that is why you won't find me on any electoral register... happy hunting.
Luke P. - 19-Aug-22 @ 3:44 PM
I'm self employed and it's disgusting that they only pay £66 per day, I will be losing nearly £1000 in earnings and the payments don't come close to covering that. Why should people be faced with financial hardship and possible defaults on bills to do this. The whole system needs reforming. I am going to try and get out of it as I know if I do have to sit on a case, I will be too busy worrying about the fact I won't be able to pay my mortgage that monthrather than listening to the case.
Rich - 21-Jul-22 @ 2:02 PM
Been called up for jury duty end of Aug 22 iam not spending £10 away on petrol £10 on parking then food iam not going cannot afford it
Xxxx - 27-Jun-22 @ 11:40 AM
I have be excused from jury duty once and on the date expected I was still unable to attend called to be excused again and was told I would go down as failure to appear now I have received my third notice coming up 6/21/22 my problem I dont drive and I am unemployed are there any services that provide free or reduced rates To and from jury duty and if so how do I go about getting this started prior to my date to avoid any fines or incarceration
Fearny - 6-Jun-22 @ 8:12 PM
There are two reasons which I can't be a juror. One is a felony and the other is my vision is very poor. I have cataracts and I have surgery next month. Also I'm going to be 71 years old on May 30. So I'm asking to be free to assist to any jurors service. Thanks.
N/A - 17-May-22 @ 7:48 PM
Let me start by saying that I'm am so sorry for missing my court date for jury duty. I requested my time off my job for May 11th a month ago. Looking on line Monday evening there I discovered that my day for selection for jury duty was on the 9th on May whichis Monday,I'm not making excuses because I should have paid more attention to the instructions. So I understand that you have to do what you have to do.
Choochoo - 11-May-22 @ 12:47 AM
I was supposed to go for jury duty on April 4, but I forgot the appointment due to my medication. I have a pain pump and it has morphine, bupivacaine, and clonidine in it and there are times that I mix dates and other things up. I suffer from chronic pain and I use oxygen 24 hours a day. This is why I have the pain pump. Im real sorry I missed the date of April 4, but I put it on my calendar as May 4,please excuse me from all further jury dates. Thank you Deborah CvC
Susie - 1-May-22 @ 5:25 PM
These comments made me laugh
jury - 9-Apr-22 @ 11:37 AM
Hello I was in a car accident. And all my paperwork was in my car. So I don't remember when I was supposed to go. It slipped my mind because I have a lot of things going on at this point. So I totally lost the form due to my car aacident. What should I do Lisa
Lisa - 27-Mar-22 @ 8:04 AM
I've been pulled up for jury but I have a hospital appointment for that day not missing this appointment for jury no chance. Anyhow I thrown it in the bin the day after I had it so can't do much now can I
H - 6-Sep-21 @ 10:47 PM
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