Jury Duty?

Length of time can depend on what court you're called for. Circuit court cases are usually, but not always, shorter than the Central Criminal Court (murders etc).

Yes did it before, actually enjoyed it as an experience.

The way it worked for me was there was a pool of about I would say 250-300 potential jurors went in to the court building on Monday morning, they then called at random names of those in the room to be jurors for individual cases, this process lasted around an hour, during this time you just sat there seeing if your name would be called. Those who got called were told by the judge that the case is expected to last x days/weeks and is there any reason you wouldn't be able to facilitate this due to holidays or perhaps you know the defendant in the case or were from the area the crime took place. If you are not selected on the first day you need to go in the 2nd and possibly 3rd day until the judges have enough jurors to fill each case they have scheduled, after this you are dismissed and no longer required. Some cases could potentially run for weeks, others days, the judge should be able to give you the best estimate on the day of jury selection, I would bring any details of holidays booked with you so you can be dismissed if they conflict.

Our hours were 10am the court started, I think we had to be in for 9.30am. Some days the case ran from 10am until about 5pm with a 1 hour break for lunch, also had a day where we did 50 minutes and went home for that day. Lunch is an hour and done in slots of 12-1 or 1-2. There can be lots of times througout the day the jury has to leave courtroom where discussions are made as to what is admissable in evidence. Think the case I was on ran for 8 working days. Our phones were put in a safe during the deliberation process.

Yes about 2 years ago popcorn - AMA

If you’re selected then as a jury you’ll have to elect a chairperson between ye - simply put this is the person that engages with the judge throughout on matters as they arise.

A guard is posted to look after ye on a day to day basis - ye go to lunch together as a group - guard sits away from ye - you can’t discuss the trial evidence until the end - depending on trial there can be a lot of legal argument that jury aren’t privy to- so lots of waiting around in a small room - bring a book to read or a game to play or some other form of amusement .

If you really don’t want to go on a jury, you can tell the judge your reasons - depending on what you say they may excuse you

Glad I did it- got excused for about 10-15 years (can’t remember which) so won’t be a potential jury member again until early 2030s at least

Yes absolutely to phone - and a charger just can’t Google the case at hand and obviously can’t use whilst listening to evidence in the trial - but back in the jury room at breaks and what not absolutely

I was called for jury duty years ago and rejected 🤪- there were certainly about 40 people at least at my selection time and I think they were only looking for one jury - so maybe 1 in 3 chance but that’s a real guesstimate -someone else can tell you just how many jurors each side can reject but I think it’s about 3-4 per side

But remember if they’re looking for a few juries , which might not suit one may suit another - so

Process is the same - just more people and juries to select - the trial can run days or weeks - the judge will provide you with as an accurate estimate as possible but with legal arguement the trial can be prolonged for many days longer so take with pinch of salt

Its not a registered letter. Just sent standard mail.

How many days you need to turn up for selection is up to the court and then that would depend on how many jury cases are listed.

Whilst Dublin may have several cases, if its outside Dublin and a circuit court case, its likely a single case and if not selected you are informed there most likely will be no need to return any additional days. (unless of course you've been selected)

Selection process is in several parts too. Initially they could call 50+, then whittle it down to about 30, then counsel on both sides can reject you.

https://courts.ie/what-happens-day-i-go-court

When I was called I had to go to Trim for 2 weeks. The first morning, they selected 2 juries and I wasn't called. Told to go home and come back 2 days later so I was able to work on the Tuesday.

Rinse and repeat for the 2 weeks. In at 10 am, not selected for a jury so out by 1 and come back on the day specified.

They stamped a form every day and work were grand about paying my salary for the days that were stamped.

Not a well known fact but most house insurance policies will cover your expenses for jury duty and not affect your no claims. Axa pay €20 a day to a maximum of €750. When everyting is wrapped you will receive a letter from the court stating how long you attended duty whether called or not. These are needed to make a claim. Best of luck !!

was that recently? Our jury deliberations were spread over 2 days- went home that evening and back the following - I wonder is the “tradition” dying out? I imagine the current hotel accommodation status might have also impacted this- never saw a reason for it myself - you take an oath so doesn’t matter if you’re staying at home or in a hotel you’re still under oath

Not only picked but finished up being foreman!!

Kinda nice when the judge addresses you personally as "Mr. CML", but on the downside the garda looking after you will let you know that you're there to keep an eye on the jury that there are no shenanigans.

This was years ago before smartphones, but I imagine there will be a temptation among some jurors to google the case, so there will be dire warnings I guess about consequences of same.

I never got to pronounce our verdict because the defendant copped a plea on the second day.

I'm glad I did it for the experience but I wouldn't want to do it again.

Ha! A few of the jury members had their cars clamped after parking in an area advised by the Gardai on duty in the courts on the day

not sure it happens much anymore - maybe for major gangland crimes but a lot of those would be special criminal court anyway so no jury

Just arrived home from Portugal today and a letter was here for my husband re jury duty starting the week of Nov 4th. We have our daughters graduation on Friday 8th Nov and we are booked to go to Spain on 9th Nov. Flights and accommodation have been booked for a long time so I expect that they will accept this as a reason to be excused. On the other hand, I’d actually love to be called - I reckon it could be quite interesting 🤔.

If they were lets say 250 people called what would be my chances of actually ending up on a jury.

It will obviously vary but the time I did it there was about 80 - 90 people there for the initial selection process and they needed to pick two Juries.

They called out 24 (I think it was) names for The first jury who went into the adjoining courtroom where the Judge and Barristers were (we could see it on a screen) and at that point they could ask to be excused or be rejected, anyone not picked came back into the original room (where they could be called for the 2nd Jury).

They didn't get 12 jurors from the first group so another 6 were called and this got them over the line.

My name was called for the 2nd jury and counting ahead I was number 17 in the line so was fairly certain (based on how the first selection had gone) I would end up being needed (which I was).

There was at least one person who was called both times and ended up on the second jury (they were excused from the first one as they lived in the same area as the defendant).

AFAIK any one not picked for the two juries were sent home and did not need to attend any other selection days.

The trials were to run consecutively and even though we were picked second our trial was scheduled first.

The trial itself lasted 4 days and we probably spent at least a day and a half of that sitting in the Jury room while the Judge and barristers discussed points of law etc..

The other trial never took place as the defendant changed their plea to guilty and on our second day we saw the other jury brought back in just to be dismissed.

We actually ended up with only 11 people on our Jury as it only came to light on the first day of the trial itself that one of the witnesses knew one of the jury and they were asked to step down and leave. The Judge said that it would be ok to carry on with only 11 jurors and the trial carried on.

Depends on how much you want to avoid being picked on the day

I am on Jury service tomorrow. The same I don't know what to expect.

I also have my annual holiday booked for end of October. So would they pardon me?

So I presume you go in every day until Thursday if you are not selected.

Thank you

Why didn’t you just send the letter yourself ? My husband sent them an email and attached details of our flights etc and got excused no problem.