Serving as a juror in the Coroner's Court
Under the law of England and Wales, an inquest must be held as part of an investigation into certain deaths. Inquests are generally always open to the public. Most inquests are held without a jury, but there are times when the law says that a jury must be called. This includes unnatural and violent deaths that occur in prison, police custody, or another type of state detention, as well as deaths resulting from an accident at work.
Jury service is an important civic duty. It can be challenging at times; however, many of our jurors also find it very satisfying and meaningful to take an active part in the justice system. We are grateful to all our jurors for the vital role they play and aim to give them all possible support.
Why have you been summoned?
Your name has been chosen at random from the Electoral Register. Most people eligible to vote in the UK will be asked to do jury service at some point in their lives. It is an important contribution to our society and justice system.
How to fill in the form
Please keep page 1 and 2 – this is your summons which tells you when and where you need to attend Court. Please complete page 3 of the form as follows:
The top part of the form asks for your personal details; please ensure that you provide a contact number and email address.
Question 1 asks if you are qualified to serve as a juror. To be qualified you must:
- be aged between 18 and 70 at the start date of your jury service
- be registered to vote in the UK
- have lived in the UK for at least five years after your thirteenth birthday
- to have mental capacity
Question 2 needs to be answered, if you consider that you are not qualified to serve as a juror.
People are not qualified to be jurors if they:
- are on bail
- have been to Prison or have been subject to a community order within the last 10 years
- have ever been given a prison sentence of 5 years or longer
- are in Hospital or under a community treatment order for mental health treatment
Question 3 needs to be answered if you are qualified but wish to be excused from jury service. A full explanation of your circumstances must be provided and you must indicate whether you wish to be excused permanently or whether you wish to be excused on this occasion and, therefore, wish for your service to be delayed to a later date. Should you wish to be excused on either basis, you must detail the reasons in full and provide written evidence, such as confirmation of a pre–booked holiday or a medical appointment.
Please sign and date the declaration at the bottom of the form and return the form within 3 days of receipt, either by scanning or photographing the completed form and emailing coroner.service@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or by returning it in the pre–paid envelope provided.
Please note: Email is not secure, so please take appropriate precautions to protect any sensitive or personal information.
What will happen next?
Your completed form will be reviewed, and a decision made as follows:
- You may be accepted for jury service
- You may have your service delayed to a later date
- You may be excused from jury service
You will receive a letter or email (if an email address has been indicated on your completed Summons) with the decision. If we have questions about what you have put on the form, we will contact you further.
What happens if you don't reply?
If you do not reply, the Senior Coroner has the power to have you brought to the Coroner’s Court by the police and fined. It is very important therefore, that you reply to the summons and give true information.
If you are away when the form arrives or, have another acceptable reason for not replying straight away, please complete and return the form to us as soon as you can.
If you are excused from serving
If you are not qualified to serve or, if the Senior Coroner agrees to your reason for asking to be permanently excused, we will contact you to confirm that you are not required to attend Court.
You do not need to do anything else, and we will not ask you to serve again in future; however, you may get a summons from the Criminal Court in the future, as they have a separate jury system to ours. You would need to explain your situation to them and ask to be excused.
If you have your service deferred to a later date
If the Senior Coroner agrees to delay your service to a later date, we will write to let you know. You do not need to attend the Coroner’s Court for the date on your summons.
We will write to you again with a new summons for dates which you have indicated that you will be available. Please respond to this, as soon as possible. It is not usually possible to defer your service twice, unless you have a significant new reason.
You can continue booking holidays or arranging other events as normal; you do not need to let us know about these.
Sometimes we get more replies from qualified jurors than we need. If this happens, we will defer some of the jurors to a later date. These jurors are usually recalled within the following 3–6 months.
If you are accepted onto the jury
If you are accepted for jury service, we will write to let you know. Your confirmation letter will include information about claiming expenses and information about parking (if relevant to you).
It is very important that you attend on the date of your summons. If there is a problem before the start of the Inquest, if, for example you are ill, you must let us know straight away as we may be able to excuse you or defer your service. If you fail to attend, without reason, you may be brought to Court by the police.
What to expect on your first day
Please arrive promptly on the day you have been called to attend to avoid any disruption to the Inquest.
What should you wear?
There is no formal dress code for the Coroner's Court. However, the family of the deceased person may be there and so we ask jurors to dress reasonably smartly, out of respect. It is not necessary to wear a suit; smart casual clothes are acceptable.
Please bring photo identification on the first day. If you do not have photo ID, bring a utility bill or bank statement showing your name and address.
Could you be stood down?
A coroner's jury consists of between 7 and 11 people. We always call more than 11 jurors to allow for sickness or last-minute problems; some jurors will be stood down and will not need to serve on that day. If it would be very inconvenient for you to be stood down at the last minute, for example, if you have already rearranged your work commitments, then it is likely that you will remain as a juror.
You will also be stood down if you have a conflict of interest with the case being heard. We try to avoid this by using the information supplied on your form.
You may be recalled on another date to fulfil your obligation to serve.
Claiming expenses
The allowances you can claim are set out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are the same as for jurors in all other courts. They aim to ensure that jurors are reimbursed fairly for money they have spent coming to court and for any pay they have lost.
Loss of earnings
If you are employed, and your employer will not continue to pay you whilst on jury service, you can claim for loss of earnings. Your employer will certify your net pay (or if you are self–employed, you may self–certify) and you will be repaid that amount. There is an upper limit set by the MoJ of £64.95 per day, or when inquests last more than 10 days, £129.91 for the 11th and subsequent days. We cannot pay more than this, even if your usual salary is higher.
To self–certify, you will need to provide written proof of your normal earnings. Most people do this by giving the summary page of their last year's tax return.
Childcare
If you need to pay for childcare, we will repay your expenses up to the same limits. You must submit a receipt from a registered provider. If you are claiming for loss of earnings and childcare, the limits apply to the total of both amounts.
Transport
You can claim for standard class public transport at cost. Please keep your receipts. We do not pay for taxi travel.
You can claim for car travel at 25p per mile. We will calculate this for you based on your home postcode. You may also claim for parking but please keep your receipts. Please make all attempts to use a reasonably priced car park. We will not pay any parking fines or lost ticket fees.
Lunch
We will give you an allowance of £5.71 per day for lunch, except on days when we provide food. You can then choose where you wish to eat and how much you wish to spend. Please retain all receipts as these will be required for reimbursement of your expenditure.
The Court Officer will provide forms for claiming loss of earnings and other expenses; however you can also download the claim form (PDF).