Serving up justice

About the time I was due to have heart surgery last year I received a an official letter. You can always tell an official letter in the UK as it comes in a brown envelope. This official letter was unlike anything I had ever received before: it was my first ever call for Jury Service. It was meant to start in December, but for health reasons I asked to postpone it, and so began my Jury Service at the beginning of June.

Jury Service requires a UK citizen (selected at random from the electoral roll) to attend for 10 working days. Each Jury is selected at random from those currently on Jury Service. Each Monday and Wednesday a new crop of potential jurors arrives, and is treated to a video presentation as to what they can expect. At the Crown Court where I was serving most cases seem to last for a few days at most. I spent most of my first week sitting around waiting to be (randomly) selected, playing chess against willing victims, and enjoying the company of fellow citizens who also found themselves awaiting the call to be on a Jury.

It was not until the Thursday of my first week of service that I was finally called. A group of 40 potential jurors—the Jury panel—had been selected to serve on a "longer case which would be paper heavy and last for up to six weeks". Anyone for whom English was not their first language or were weak would be removed, as would anyone who could provide evidence to the Judge that they had previously booked and paid for a holiday. This whittled down the 40, and on Friday a Jury of 12 were randomly selected with 2 additional people in reserve.

And so commenced my real work as a Juror in a real case. The case involved a gang who were stealing high-end BMWs, taking them to a "chop shop" and cutting them up to export and sell the parts overseas. The evidence consisted of some 300 pages of written and photograph exhibits in a "Jury bundle", several hours of police video surveillance, and witness testimony from several witnesses including defendants. It was confusing at first, long, arduous and intriguing. But it was particularly interesting to see the Justice system in action from the inside, and to be an integral part of it. Had I any doubts about the Jury system beforehand they would quickly have been dispelled by my experience. Of course, I may have been lucky to have served on a Jury with a fine bunch of men and women, who all took their responsibilities seriously. This does not mean we did not have a laugh in the Jury room, but in our task to review and assess the evidence a responsible attitude prevailed with a camaraderie that such a short acquaintance with each other would not have seemed possible.

Both counsels, for the Crown and for the defence, were professional in the extreme, yet not without wit. The English system is adversarial, but remains typically English: very civilised, with strict protocols, unlike the melodrama which seems to be the norm in US courts. The weapons of counsel are selected presentation of elements of the evidence and a supreme command of the English language. The judge reigned supreme over the courtroom saying very little until his summing up and direction after all the evidence had been put before us. His scrupulous fairness to the defendants seems all the more remarkable in hindsight: he knew of the defendants' prior convictions and history, which had been kept from us, the Jury.

Although it would be an exaggeration to describe my experience as a Juror as pleasurable, it was a pleasure to work with so many interesting, intelligent and amiable people on the same Jury. It was an honour to be able to serve my community, and more importantly to serve justice. We, the Jury, were meticulous in sifting through the evidence before coming to a certain conclusion based on it. Although Jury Service disrupted my plans for a Summer of productive writing, I found it inspiring: I learned something new, something different, and got a feel for part of the national institutions with which I am fortunate not to have been involved. To my fellow Jurors I owe a debt of thanks for the collegial and friendly manner in which we interacted. To the counsels and Judge I am grateful to know that the system of Justice in this country is in very capable hands, unlike so many other countries. To our Jury usher, "The Don", a huge vote of thanks for the friendly and capable way in which you helped us to assume the role of Jurors and deliver the verdict. This was an experience which I shall never forget, and one which I am delighted to have been part of.