Jury duty

Different countries have different approaches to juries:[1] variations include the kinds of cases tried before a jury, how many jurors hear a trial, and whether the lay person is involved in a single trial or holds a paid job similar to a judge, but without legal training.

[1] In the English model, potential jurors are generally summoned for duty, and then interviewed for their suitability to serve on the jury for a particular trial.

[3] Under the National Employment Standards, make-up pay is required only for the first ten days of jury service; however, the laws of Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia extend the make-up pay requirement for the entire duration of the jury service.

[13] According to 2016 figures from the Ministry of Justice, there is about a 35% chance of people in England and Wales being summoned for jury service over the course of their lifetime.

Failing to report for jury duty can result in a wide range of penalties, from simply being placed back into the selection pool to immediate criminal prosecution and having a bench warrant issued for contempt of court.

[15][16][17] Employers are not allowed to fire an employee for being called to jury duty, but they are typically not required to pay salaries during this time.

[15] Accordingly, government employees are in a paid status as long as they have received a summons in connection with a judicial proceeding, by a court or authority responsible for the conduct of that proceeding to serve as a juror (or witness) in the District of Columbia or a state, territory, or possession of the United States, Puerto Rico, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The US Supreme Court has held, in Butler v. Perry, 240 U.S. 328 (1916), that the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits "slavery [and] involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime," does not prohibit "enforcement of those duties which individuals owe to the state, such as services in the army, militia, on the jury, etc."

The US Department of Justice recommends that recipients of these calls contact the court directly to avoid falling victim to this scam.

[20] Federal courts mostly use the United States Postal Service in their communications with prospective jurors, and any calls that are made will never ask for personal information.

[1] This can be considered a form of jury service in the sense that the verdict is decided by a citizen with no legal training.