Jury Duty - Sydney

I have tried unsuccessfully to get someone off jury duty on the basis of them being essential.
I even offered myself as a swap - sort of a human sacrifice.
Luckily, she fronted up on the day and was rejected and that was it.
 
Ok, if he doesn't get excused beforehand I'm going to tell him to let out his butt length hear and put in his 20 something piercings in his face, and wear his ugliest stinky clothing to see if that will work.
He's a great guy, very polite, but first impressions would not reveal it.
 
Bumping this almost 10 year old thread.

Any tips on getting excused, one of our employees called up for a 4 week trial.
Being a small biz, we heavily rely on our few employees to operate.
It seems quite difficult to get excused without specific medical or other pre-determined reason.

How do other small businesses handle these situations?

Buy him refundable airline tickets leaving in 2 weeks for an OS trip
 
Buy him refundable airline tickets leaving in 2 weeks for an OS trip

Well, that is one of the boxes you can tick which "may" get you excused.
i.e. Pre booked holidays - provide travel documentation.

However, they would be booked after receiving the Jury Duty notice was issued so would probably be refused after going through the trouble.
 
My daughter recently got called for a 5 week stint and she was a busy job seeker at the time. Not good enough to get out of it. Prove it they said and she did by showing emails and getting stat decs from agencies. She was only reprieved for 2 weeks. If she didn't have a job by then - bad luck. (She got a job). She also provided a letter from the doctor saying she was stressed and suffering depression from being unemployed and going through financial hardship and this would add to the stress.

A friend recently did a 3 week stint - a child molestation case which really upset her (tears and nightmares).

She went through a lot of "ringing in the morning" to see if she was needed so her life was on hold too until she was picked. Pay is about $120 per day.

You might want to see if there's anything in this thread -
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1733149
 
Wow...what an attitude to have !!!

About 5 years ago while I was still employed, my employers also asked if I can get myself excused from serving.
I told them I had no intention, and it sounded very interesting.

I attended with the other group of people.
Many of them tried to get out of it...and only a very few were permitted (elderly, hearing impaired etc)

I wasn't picked in the end..and that was the end of it.

The chances of even being picked is small.

I would hope if I ever needed a jury, I wouldnt have a group of snivelling 'I dont want to be here" jurors....

second thought...maybe it is best you don't serve ...
 
I just got a letter today for Jury Duty. Normally I'd be happy to do it, but I've just recently had surgery, and by the time it rolls around I will only just be starting to get myself around again. Add to that I'm self employed & it's the busiest time of the year, I have no option other than get my Accountant to write me letter to excuse me from it this time.

I'd happily do it in January or February though.

I did serve on a Jury years ago in Wollongong. It was very interesting!
 
I just got a letter today for Jury Duty. Normally I'd be happy to do it, but I've just recently had surgery, and by the time it rolls around I will only just be starting to get myself around again. Add to that I'm self employed & it's the busiest time of the year, I have no option other than get my Accountant to write me letter to excuse me from it this time.

I'd happily do it in January or February though.

I did serve on a Jury years ago in Wollongong. It was very interesting!

I wonder why they don't send a summons saying "You've got one year to be available, pick a time now or we'll pick one for you". It's not like it's something you can volunteer for to get your turn out of the way, so it seems only fair they should at least offer a bit of flexibility
 
Does he get interviewed before he becomes a jury? Maybe during the interview, show them that you are an unreasonable opinionated jerk not fit to be a jury by saying " What? Are you kidding me? of course he's guilty. I don't like him." before even knowing the facts. LOL:D;)
 
Must be harder to get excused in Sydney than it is in Brisbane. I'm on a 100% strike rate for successful excusals for staff. At least 5 in the last 3 years with pretty generic letters advising they were required at work during that period.

I myself just got excused for this month, but did perform jury duty early last year.
 
Apologies for the late entry to this thread, I've been a bit distracted but want to give my 2 cents based on personal experience....

I hope I never get picked for jury duty again. Years ago, I was an part of an unfortunate audience, watching the defence pick at an (alleged) gang rape victim's story for the best part of 2 days. When the defence started questioning whether the alleged victim carried condoms on her person I was at a loss at how to feel about our justice system, and how it would treat my daughters if they found themselves in a similar situation.

I'd much rather people who are enthusiastic about jury duty get involved, and a simple way out was provided to people who want to get out of jury duty, regardless of the reason. Maybe we could develop a system along similar lines to compulsory voting, where you don't technically have to participate, you just have to show up on the day and get your name ticked off on a list.
 
Years ago, I was an part of an unfortunate audience, watching the defence pick at an (alleged) gang rape victim's story for the best part of 2 days. When the defence started questioning whether the alleged victim carried condoms on her person I was at a loss at how to feel about our justice system, and how it would treat my daughters if they found themselves in a similar situation.

Was there a legitimate issue to be tried there?

If I had daughters charged with an offence they didn't commit, then I'd want their lawyer to vigorously challenge the prosecution witnesses too.
 
I remember an old joke which said something about never committing a crime so bad to require a jury - as who wants their fate decided by a group of 12 people not intelligent enough to get out of doing jury duty.

:eek:
 
Was there a legitimate issue to be tried there?

If I had daughters charged with an offence they didn't commit, then I'd want their lawyer to vigorously challenge the prosecution witnesses too.

Seeing the way the justice system is run, I don't have a lot of faith in it or particularly like some aspects of it. I think adding compulsion for people to attend as jurors puts everyone involved in the process at a disadvantage.
 
The one I attended was a rape trial as well, but it appeared to be a case of the lady in question filing something against her exboyfriend at the time. It was an on again/off again relationship & a lot of the evidence pointed to it being a scorned woman retaliating because the male had moved on.

While I found it quite interesting, I did find it very frustrating, as most of the jurors were aged pensioners, and could not comprehend how a 'decent' woman could possibly enjoy some of the described bedroom antics. If those same jurors were alive today, they would be well into their 90's.
 
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