Chances of Jury Service in Dublin v Rural Areas?

zoe

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Does every adult in Ireland have an equal chance of being chosen for jury service, or do people in Dublin have a greater chance of being chosen compared to those who live in rural areas such as Donegal, Leitrim & Mayo?

Just wondered...
 
zoe said:
Does every adult in Ireland have an equal chance of being chosen for jury service, or do people in Dublin have a greater chance of being chosen compared to those who live in rural areas such as Donegal, Leitrim & Mayo?

Just wondered...
I am in a small town in Cork and have been called twice in the past 10 years. Once was for a criminal trial and the other was for a corroners court.
 
My son was called just a few weeks past his 18th birthday, he was excused on the grounds of it clashing with his 'freshers' week. I was called two days from the expected date of arrival of my first son, I was also excused. I'd say a lot of people have to get an excusal for one reason or the other. We live in Dublin.
 
I was called (and served on a jury) 6 years ago and was called again about 2.5 years ago but couldn't make it. I'm from Dublin.
 
My mother and sister were both called for jury service and received their notification on the same day, rural area.
 
quinno said:
Thought you can be called only once for Jury service?

Nope. When I served on the jury, one of the other jurors had been on another trial about 5 years before. I was surprised to be called again considering none of my family were ever called.

When I did jury service, all 12 people were from only two areas of Dublin.
 
Is it true that only Irish citizens can serve on a jury (in Ireland)?
 
quinno said:
Thought you can be called only once for Jury service?

I think it certain cases (usually where the case is particularly horrific and difficult) the judge can decide that they do not ever need to be called again. No evidence to back this up unfortunately but there are some lawyer-ly types on AAM who might be able to confirm or deny.
 
A Judge can excuse you from service for whatever period he sees fit, usually where it has been a difficult case. The jury in the [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Robert Holohan case were excused for life.[/FONT]
 
Zoe, no its not true that only Irish Citizens can serve here on a jury. The names are chosen from the register of electors. If your name is on it you can be called. When you get to court the jurors are then picked, you may then be rejected and so not required to sit. I was called last year and Mr Swallow was also called later. (Rural area)
 
I think it might be a good idea to drop off the electroal register in that case. I take it there is no legal obligation to be registered.
 
bond-007 said:
I think it might be a good idea to drop off the electroal register in that case. I take it there is no legal obligation to be registered.
Do you promise never to moan about the Govt once you drop off the register? If you're not going to be part of the interview panel, you give up your rights to moan.
 
Other than being a quite drastic way to avoid the (possibly slim) chance of being selected for jury duty what other benefits are there to giving up your fundamental right to vote?
 
So you'd give up your right to vote because (a) you might be selected for jury duty and (b) "they" might introduce a "poll tax" at some point in the future? Isn't that a bit drastic? What if they introduced a cash bonus for registered voters? You'd miss out on that and they you'd be raging.
 
A cash bonus for being registered? Will never happen. :D

A poll tax is a real possibilty. :(
 
bond-007 said:
A cash bonus for being registered? Will never happen. :D

A poll tax is a real possibilty. :(
On what basis do you feel that the latter is any more likely than the former?
 
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