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Jury Duty

A couple of weeks ago I received a notice of Jury Duty, when most people get these for whatever reason they usually try get out of it. I, however was interested in seeing how it worked and was happy to do my civil duty.

I arrived to the Four Courts last Monday morning, I was directed to Court 25 where I had no idea of what lay ahead. The process begins with a roll call. Then you sit in a holding room below ground which by the end of the week we all referred to as The Dungeon! The room is freezing cold and with approx 400 ppl there and only 300 seats it’s a disgrace.

There are monitors all around the holding room so you can see in to the Court, there is no sound until the Judge is ready to swear in the jury. The Judge reads out the charges to the defendant, the defendant states his or her plea. Peoples numbers and names are called as they are chosen at random from a black box (reminds me of the prize box they had on the Late Late Show!). Once your name and number is called out you proceed to the Courtroom. You are lined up in front of the Jury Box while the rest of the ppl are being sworn in.

My heart was racing, adrenaline pumping, I felt like I was the one going on trial!!! It’s the atmosphere & for most people it’s the first time they are actually in a Courtroom. While you are on your way up to the Jury Box, the prosecution and defense may challenge you, you are told not to take this personally, and then the Judge asks you return to the holding room. My number was called on one occasion and this happened to me.

At the beginning of the week I had no idea that I would need to return to the Courts every morning for the rest of the week. I don’t understand why they can’t pick all the Jury’s for the week on the Monday so everyone can return to their usual responsibilities.

Just my luck, on Thursday morning, the last day the Courts were open last week because of Bank Holiday weekend, I got picked for a case. It was luckily for me just a short one & after sitting the Dungeon all week, I was glad to be picked and to learn how the process works.

I do think the whole system needs a revamp, starting with the facilities for the Juror’s, WiFi wouldn’t go a miss

Mwah