Juries - how are they made up?

[husaberg]

Don't be too sure. It depends on a whole lot of things. A buisness suit and tie was getting people off a while back. A leather jacket and army bag got me challenged once but bike leathers and helmet were acceptable another time... DHAMIK.

Being a white man in a business suit is a pretty reliable way of not being selected, especially if the defendent is brown.

it sure depends they do both have a limited number of challenges a friend who is a detective said how i normally dress for work i was like a prosecutions dream.

My 2c on such matters...

Spectacular waste of time when I was called up in Wellington. Lots of sitting around just so I could be challenged and go back to work.

One of my old bosses, whose name was Dennis, had been called up something like 5 times. His wife Denise - not once.

SWMBO sat on trial once, can't remember the charge but due to the lack of any decent evidence, her jury basically decided the defendant was less dodgy than the crackpot ('victim') testifying against them.

I am 40 i would say i have been called up maybe 20 times got out of most due to work commitments but where i work now which is publicly owned has a policy to not get people off jury service we have approx 25 employees last time i was called up 4 of us were summonsed

So whats the deal with criminal convictions and jury duty? Got called up years ago but never went for some reason, think I may of been on codfish island at the time.
Surely there must be times when previous history must rule a person out.?

Not sure re convictions actually but if you serve on some vile cases like i did they let you off for a few years, and sometimes say on a Murder forever i think.
I can remember on a busy week seeing the same people serve multiple times on different jury's..... I bet they felt popular.

[Swoop]

...but if you serve on some vile cases like i did they let you off for a few years, and sometimes say on a Murder forever i think.

Unsure about that. I was on a murder case and have been called up again since.

[Banditbandit]

After a particularly nasty case (either gory or children or both) or two I have seen judges tell jurors they have done their duty and will not be called up again for (and named the years) or say they wil never be called again ...

[scott411]

I had never had Jury service before, i got a high court summonds last year, but managed to get off it as I lived more than 50km away, have just got a District Court one for the end of November, I have deffered it as i will be in teh south island the week they want me,

[Gremlin]

Going through all this again, 7 years since the last summons, and more annoyingly, my boss hasn't had one in 9-10 years (he even jokingly offered a substitution instead). Submitted the required paperwork to be excused, along with business card, supporting letter etc, and received this email back:

Thanks for your email. I am unable to excuse you from jury service on -call up date- completely. Due to a legislative change on the 04 October 2010, a deferral will always be considered in the first instance. This process is used so we can accommodate most people’s situations and commitments. This can, for example, be a less busy time at work, when you’re not on a planned holiday, during school holidays, or out of school, family commitment etc.

The reason the deferral legislation came into law on 4 October 2010 is so that if a juror was summoned for a particular date and was unable to attend, they could be deferred to a later date. This allows those selected for jury duty, self-employed, a contractor and specialised contractor, employees and/or their employers, students as well as anybody else affected by their legal jury duty requirements, sufficient time to organise cover, leave or any other arrangements necessary to allow that juror to attend when re-summoned.

Only certain occupations are disqualified from jury service under section 8 Juries Act 1981, such as judges and police staff, people employed in other occupations who wish to be excused are required to provide a reason that falls within those provided by the legislation. Most people summonsed for jury service are employed in some way or have personal matters that are interrupted by attendance at Court. Under section 14B(2)(b) of the Juries Act 1981, you can only be deferred once, and under section 14B(1)(a), this deferral must be within a 12 month period.

To be deferred from your jury service on this occasion, you will need to provide more appropriate dates for your jury service. The dates you give us must be for a period of time of at least four weeks as from -date bracket-. Please note: (The courts are closed between mid-December to mid-January.) You will be called for the closest trial to the first date. If you could advise of this as soon as possible I will be able to process your application accordingly. If you do not attempt to provide us with convenient deferral dates on your response form, then we generate these dates automatically, meaning they may interfere with your commitments.

Please note that with this deferral of your jury service on this occasion you will be required to attend when re-summoned. It is important that the dates given are a period that you are available as these dates cannot be changed at a later date.

However, if you do not wish to be deferred from this service, you may need to attend on your summoned date and appeal your application decision to the Judge.

If you could please advise of these dates as soon as possible I will be able to process your application accordingly.

Fucken pisser. It's right after I'm back from a tentative plan to the South Island (partly to move a client's branch office) and a wedding in Rotorua, ie, I'm back in Auckland 1 Feb and now court 2 Feb. I likely need to defer as my boss will likely be travelling in the first two weeks of February (hell, he hadn't even spoken to me about it yet), but then (in bold) they clearly state it can't be deferred again a second time. I don't possess a fucken crystal ball and I'm the sole employee (not counting my boss). The last time I wasn't reachable on my mobile was over 4 years ago when I was in the USA, and the first thing I did after checking into a hotel was get a local mobile number and be contactable - plus I've worked on cruise ships as well.

Fucken government employees that work half days. Last year I worked Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and Boxing because it was the single best time of year to take critical networks out of action... Now we have to figure out what's the best path... the managed work load is easy to schedule, it's getting a call at 4am that something isn't working, or a server is down, that can't be planned for...

[Scuba_Steve]

Going through all this again, 7 years since the last summons, and more annoyingly, my boss hasn't had one in 9-10 years

If it helps any, I've never been summoned... Not expecting I ever will
But yes, a few people are getting caught out by this new change

[Bikemad]

Going through all this again, 7 years since the last summons, and more annoyingly, my boss hasn't had one in 9-10 years (he even jokingly offered a substitution instead). Submitted the required paperwork to be excused, along with business card, supporting letter etc, and received this email back:



Fucken pisser. It's right after I'm back from a tentative plan to the South Island (partly to move a client's branch office) and a wedding in Rotorua, ie, I'm back in Auckland 1 Feb and now court 2 Feb. I likely need to defer as my boss will likely be travelling in the first two weeks of February (hell, he hadn't even spoken to me about it yet), but then (in bold) they clearly state it can't be deferred again a second time. I don't possess a fucken crystal ball and I'm the sole employee (not counting my boss). The last time I wasn't reachable on my mobile was over 4 years ago when I was in the USA, and the first thing I did after checking into a hotel was get a local mobile number and be contactable - plus I've worked on cruise ships as well.

Fucken government employees that work half days. Last year I worked Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and Boxing because it was the single best time of year to take critical networks out of action... Now we have to figure out what's the best path... the managed work load is easy to schedule, it's getting a call at 4am that something isn't working, or a server is down, that can't be planned for...

you should send them a thankyou letter with a New Zealand National Front letterhead..........you will be excused

[J.A.W.]

a clearly effective system when you must be forcibly persuaded to participate.

Yeah, its a longstanding ( for centuries) civil duty.. & not to be shirked lightly..
..albeit.. if you have the prefix "Psych..." heading your occupation category on the Electoral Roll, you won't even be asked, I've found..

[Gremlin]

If it helps any, I've never been summoned... Not expecting I ever will
But yes, a few people are getting caught out by this new change

Perhaps they pick on immigrants... I'm planning to get around to citizenship next year... only been here since 1997...

[J.A.W.]

Perhaps they pick on immigrants... I'm planning to get around to citizenship next year... only been here since 1997...

Yeah, here's a tip for ya G.. if like you.. speak English with a nasty accent that labels you as a right ignorant bastard, you'll likely be excused, anyhow..

[Gremlin]

Yeah, here's a tip for ya G.. if like you.. speak English with a nasty accent that labels you as a right ignorant bastard, you'll likely be excused, anyhow..

South Africa doesn't have a jury system, just assessors (experts in law) to assist the judge. Seems efficient and practical to me. To be guilty (or not) you've either broken the law (or not) which means you have to know the relevant laws.

Instead, they want people that DON'T know the law, to decide. That's akin to asking my clients to fix their own technical issues... I've very seldom seen a successful result. Go figure

[gsxr]

I managed to get off 5 times due to being sole trader with a family to support. Managed to get off #6 summons but was deferred to a suitable quiet time for me or they would stipulate a time as per gremlins email. Fortunately for me on my deferred summons far more than required ppl turned up so names were drawn out.Luckily for me I didnt win the raffle as it was a 4 week trial.
Knowing full well that I would be paid the princely sum of $31.00 for a 1/2 day attendance I chose to spend it wisely at the local pub to celebrate .

[Akzle]

Going through all this again, 7 years since the last summons, and more annoyingly, my boss hasn't had one in 9-10 years (he even jokingly offered a substitution instead). Submitted the required paperwork to be excused, along with business card, supporting letter etc, and received this email back:



Fucken pisser. It's right after I'm back from a tentative plan to the South Island (partly to move a client's branch office) and a wedding in Rotorua, ie, I'm back in Auckland 1 Feb and now court 2 Feb. I likely need to defer as my boss will likely be travelling in the first two weeks of February (hell, he hadn't even spoken to me about it yet), but then (in bold) they clearly state it can't be deferred again a second time. I don't possess a fucken crystal ball and I'm the sole employee (not counting my boss). The last time I wasn't reachable on my mobile was over 4 years ago when I was in the USA, and the first thing I did after checking into a hotel was get a local mobile number and be contactable - plus I've worked on cruise ships as well.

Fucken government employees that work half days. Last year I worked Xmas Eve, Xmas Day and Boxing because it was the single best time of year to take critical networks out of action... Now we have to figure out what's the best path... the managed work load is easy to schedule, it's getting a call at 4am that something isn't working, or a server is down, that can't be planned for...

do your fucken duty, citizen. You voted for it.

[Akzle]

If it helps any, I've never been summoned... Not expecting I ever will
But yes, a few people are getting caught out by this new change

i got it once, when i was 16 or so. Sent a letter telling them to fuck off. They did.
Havent been on the electoral roll since.

Yeah, its a longstanding ( for centuries) civil duty.. & not to be shirked lightly..
..albeit.. if you have the prefix "Psych..." heading your occupation category on the Electoral Roll, you won't even be asked, I've found..

or... They might have half an idea that you're a fucking dropkick

South Africa doesn't have a jury system, just assessors (experts in law) to assist the judge. Seems efficient and practical to me. To be guilty (or not) you've either broken the law (or not) which means you have to know the relevant laws.

Instead, they want people that DON'T know the law, to decide. That's akin to asking my clients to fix their own technical issues... I've very seldom seen a successful result. Go figure

except that a jury of your peers is one of the rights(/duties) conferred on us by mother unglund vis the magna carta and part of the adversarial judicial system we suffer.

Technically "the law is every man's"
so why we need bitch ass jewlawyers at 300 an hour to interpret it for the plebs is a bit beyond me.

Oh, wait, no. It's because they use jewspeak/legalese to fuck your ass and confuse and enslave everyone

[Gremlin]

do your fucken duty, citizen. You voted for it.

Actually, I'm only a permanent resident... haven't been elevated to the class of citizen yet