nolanz: How far away are you when you are on holiday? How soon can you respond to your contract if you are on the other island?
Who says the OP has to be on site?
Friends had two German tourists at their homestay. They slept early and got up around 3am to work remotely back in Germany..
That would be interesting. Support calls comes in during the trial and you say to the judge. "Your honor. I have to do this support call so can I get my laptop out and do a remote job" I bet that would go down well..
How I see it was - if work is so important you need to be on 24/7 could you not afford it if you had a heart attack, or annual leave, family bereavement ... Didn't thought work could be counted as an excuse. I think that if one was an employee the employer needs to make provisions unless it was utterly essential you couldn't not be there on that day/period.
FWIW, I know someone who sent them a letter saying he did not believe in the justice system and did not wish to be a part of it, or something along those lines. He received a letter saying they wouldn't ask again.
I think its important to recognize what jury service is and why its important. Our justice system doesn't work without it.
One day you might be the one being judged, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to face a jury of beneficiaries and dropkicks.
I don't get the trend for not wanting to do jury service. Sure, there may be times when people really aren't able to do it, but normally I find most people just try to get out of it for no good reason. It's like people think paying their tax is all they have to do to contribute to society (I'm not directing this at the op or anyone in this thread).
JimmyH: 1. Dress up to the nines. Suit, tie clip, cuff links, smart tie. In a criminal case, you are likely to be challenged by the defence lawyer and off the jury.
For the record, me and one of the other jurors did this - didn't help.
mattwnz: Older people have far more life expericne and I believe are better rounded jurors.
Have you been on a jury? I have and seeing how some arrived at their decision is a good reason to stay out of trouble.
If I was every on trial, and could opt for judge or jury, I would select jury every time - you just need a couple of jurors to side with you...
And having been on a couple of jurys it's surprising how easy it is for someone to believe the defendant when all the evidence suggests theyre telling porkies. And all it can take is one person who has a similar life view and porkies win. ]
eracode: I would love to know exactly how they select jury candidates. I am 62 and have been summoned once - in 1974. Some much younger people I worked with were summoned several times over the last 5 - 10 years.
You are selected from from the electoral roll as a random selection.
But... I was selected for Jury service 2002, and did the whole week, two separate trials. After the second trial the judge advised us on the jury, that we would be excused from jury service for the next 10 years, because of the 'nature' of the second trial (a murder trial)
Come December 2011 I get a jury summons for march 2012, I get selected again and serve the whole week. (a burglary trial)
We were told at the end of the trial by the court clerk, and it's also mentioned in the Jury service info you're given, that once you have served on a jury, you're exempted from serving again for the next two years.
May 2012 I get another Jury summons for August 2012. I send in an exemption request with copies of my March service, and are told I am exempted, but that they dont check to see if the people being selected have served on a jury in the previous two years.
July 2012 I get *another Jury summons* for November 2012, and again they accept my exemption request.
I have no objection to serving on a jury and are quite happy to do it, but not three times in one year...
WRT the OP, there was a news item early this year that the courts were going to be a lot more 'strict' with people not turning up for jury service and asking to be exempted, as they were have real problems throughout NZ getting enough people to be available for jury service.
The times I have been called between a quarter and a third of the people who had been called didn't even turn up for the selection process at the beginning of the week.
My employer gives me a good 'deal' though. I get full pay for the days served on a jury, and get to keep the jury service payment as well.
scuwp: Or simply don't turn up. Most don't and rarely does anything come of it.
Sounds like good advice to me under the circs. Seems OP has no real alternative - a wee bit of civil disobedience.
"A wee bit of civil disobedience" can be expensive: "If the registrar hasn’t excused you from jury service and you don’t attend, you can be fined up to $1000." see: http://www.justice.govt.nz/services/access-to-justice/jury-service-1/just-been-summoned/if-you-cant-attend
alasta: Can they really throw you in jail just for not attending? I thought the penalty was just a fine.
I haven't had a summons for a long time, but if I were to get one now then I would write a long hysterical letter ranting and raving about corruption, political interference, etc. I figure that if they think I'm a nutter then I've got a better chance of getting off than if I made a perfectly reasonable request as others in this thread have done. This worked for a colleague of mine.
Some guy got sentenced to jail for 10 days last year.
A self employed engineer.
I was considering flying to Australia and working out of a friends house as being out of the country seems to be a valid reason.
Wait wait wait. You can Fly to Australia for 10 days but can't be on the jury. This type of nonsense is why they are tightening up.
networkn: Wait wait wait. You can Fly to Australia for 10 days but can't be on the jury. This type of nonsense is why they are tightening up.
I would work from australia (and be on call). Not a holiday. I work for a foreign client.
I'm planning to exit my current line of work in a couple of years - the contract is lucrative but the older you get the more valuable time becomes. On call all the time becomes painful.
And, once i'm out of this work in a couple of years i'll be happy to serve on a jury.
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