Toby Atkin-Wright

After getting a call up last month for jury service at Cupar Sheriff Court starting on Wednesday 3 June, I wrote a polite letter asking to be excused as the pittance they pay to cover loss of earnings would barely start to cover my contracting daily rate.

Unfortunately they replied to say that was not sufficient grounds for excusal.

So I prepared to lose one or more (indefinite, could be many) working days, including arranging to work today to make up for lost time. And then I got a letter this morning telling me that the sitting will not proceed and that my attendance is not now required, but that I will be liable to be recalled on a future occasion. They added "I apologise for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you."

A good result, in that I don't have to go to court and lose money in doing so, but annoying in the hassle and worry it has caused me. And it will start again when they get around to calling me in the future. And altogether inconvenient.

After getting a call up last month for jury service at Cupar Sheriff Court starting on Wednesday 3 June, I wrote a polite letter asking to be excused as the pittance they pay to cover loss of earnings would barely start to cover my contracting daily rate.

Unfortunately they replied to say that was not sufficient grounds for excusal.

So I prepared to lose one or more (indefinite, could be many) working days, including arranging to work today to make up for lost time. And then I got a letter this morning telling me that the sitting will not proceed and that my attendance is not now required, but that I will be liable to be recalled on a future occasion. They added "I apologise for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you."

A good result, in that I don't have to go to court and lose money in doing so, but annoying in the hassle and worry it has caused me. And it will start again when they get around to calling me in the future. And altogether inconvenient.

I received a registered letter through the post yesterday, calling me for jury service at the beginning of June.

I’m concerned that I can’t afford to do it. From reading the supplied leaflets, it appears they will pay a maximum of around £62/day for loss of earnings. For my contracting days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), this means I will be losing around £150/day compared to my usual daily rate.

For my university work (Tuesday and Thursday), my contract has recently been extended to the end of June, and I have work to fill all the remaining time; time off at the sheriff’s court would impact on the project (but I assume the university would continue paying me).

I’ll give them a ring on Monday morning to see what the options are. But I can’t see myself being a useful juror if I’m worrying about how much money I’m losing from being there.

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