Jury service UK

Contact them and explain.

DS1, who is disabled with poor mobility, was called and when he explained his mobility issues was told that they would make an application to excuse him.

He was very disappointed as be was keen to do it and he thought they would provide a taxi. Apparently the 12 miles distance was too big.

According to the Citizens Advice Bureau online, you are entitled to say you do not wish to serve on a jury if you are over 71. I would double check this if I were you but I am sure you can apply for exemption in your particular case.

The urinary problems should be enough. Court sitting can be long. You would have to be asking the clerk to ask the judge for repeat short adjournments to go to the toilet.

Reply to the summons either online or by letter explaining your circumstances with a hopital letter in support. You are almost past the age of being called which is 75 so I doubt this will come up again.

www.gov.uk/jury-service/delaying-or-being-excused-from-jury-service

There's no automatic exemption for those over 70, but individuals in that age range can request to be excused if they feel unable to serve and you clearly have good reason.

I have just been in this situation and emailed them and got a quick response as in i was excused and my only excuse was i was 73 and just did not want to do it

I always wanted to be on jury duty, but was never asked

That's why DS1 was disappointed.

I’ve been called a couple of times and found it interesting, though nothing like the slick TV courtroom dramas we are used to. I was hoping to be entertained with something like Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders but mostly it was tiresome ABH - two blokes having fisticuffs in the pub, that kind of thing. Seeing what passes for jury deliberation should be a deterrent to anyone tempted to misbehave.

I have had the misfortune to be called three times from three different parts of the country. There is a lot of sitting around and you are not necessarily chosen to serve on any particular jury. The trials themselves are not like you see on TV with all the tedious procedural stuff and delays edited out.

My first call came when I was very young and I was chosen to serve at a murder trial. I found it very upsetting.

The other two times I was called for trials for shoplifting, assault and possession of drugs.

I have been excused twice from jury service (in Scotland) , due to my chronic ill health. My GP was furious when I was called a second time.
There should be a form online, the details of which should be on your summons, where you can apply to be excused. Your GP or consultant has to provide a letter, stating you are unfit.

Just a word of advice to anyone going on jury duty. Do you know anything about drugs? I didn't and someone tried to explain them to me in the jury room, looked at my face and gave up! I should have had a chat with our neighbour who is a policeman before I went.

I think you should be exempt if you explain.
Your age and the fact you suffer from kidney disease should be more than enough.
I have never in nearly 68 years been asked to do jury service, neither has my OH, but one of our SILs has been called twice.

Both my husband and I were called u earlier in the year, we both asked to be excused on health grounds, we were both excused.

If you read your letter again, it explains how to ask to be excused, and you can do it online

Katjoy Contact your GP and ask for a letter stating your medical reasons for not being able to attend. I did that when I wasn't able to be on jury service. Then I emailed the court (the details will be on the jury service letter.

My GP wrote me a letter because I have diverticulitis and can't always sit for hours without rushing to the loo. There was no issue once it was explained.

Do see your GP , ask him to write a report of your ill health. I did jury service aged 70 and I found it very interesting ( not a distressing case thank goodness) however there is a lot of sitting around and court sessions aotr often long! Get the doctor's report asap and let the court know. You might also consider contacting the court prior to receiving the letter from your GP just to warn them . Good luck , you should be ok - don't worry 💐💐

Yes.if not get GP to confirm by giving you a letter

I was recently called for jury service and asked to be excused on health grounds. They agreed to excuse me dnd said doctors letter was unnecessary. Much to my relief as letters are expensive.

I received a letter for me to do jury service. I explained that I was waiting for an operation and at the moment needed to use the toilet VERY often, I was excused. I mean you can't halt a trial just because one of the jurors needs a wee, can you

I was quite sorry that I was never called for jury service. My husband was called and said he found it quite interesting but the only time I got a jury letter was shortly after I had moved house, at the new address. I rang up the court to explain that I was the new owner and also sent the letter on to the previous owners forwarding address which was still in the same area , but never heard whether they still got called up.
Having lived under dictators - Salazar and Assad - I would have been happy to be on a jury.

I’ve received two jury citations since October 2024, the first time my gp gave me a letter to attach to my request to be excused. I received the 2nd citation in January and contacted the court to explain nothing had changed regarding my mobility since October and could they excuse me again. The reply came back to say no without a more recent letter from my gp, which I duly provided and was excused a second time

I have had two call ups and one case, a historic very low level of sexual abuse case.

I was callled for Jury Service at age 74, 2 days after being discharged from hospital after breaking my hip and having a replacement op. I applied to be excused but they told me as the jury service was a few weeks later I could still be called. So then I told them about my 2 recent cancers and my stoma. With a urostomy you don't have any choice when to go as when the bag is full you just have to empty it. The urinary problems got me discharged from jury service.

Seeing what passes for jury deliberation should be a deterrent to anyone tempted to misbehave.

A very good point Silverbrooks though I think it can work in the accused's favour as well.

On my third stint as a jury member one of the cases was possession of drugs. Some of us were trying to work out if the police evidence was sufficient to convict when a young man sitting next to me said "Why don't you shut up? It's up to the judge to decide if the bloke's guilty or not." Another young man piped up "Drugs should be legalised anyway so we should say he's not guilty." I rest my case.

Mouse

I was recently called for jury service and asked to be excused on health grounds. They agreed to excuse me dnd said doctors letter was unnecessary. Much to my relief as letters are expensive.

I have never been charged for a jury exemption letetr.