See you in court

Husband-and-wife comedians and commentators Michele A’Court and Jeremy Elwood share their views.

Ilove a good courtroom drama. Any novel, TV show, movie, or play with some element of legal action in it goes pretty close to the top of my reading or watching lists – be it based on fact or pure fiction. Obviously, though, I know that most court cases don’t involve stunning revelations, perfectly worded speeches and complicated defendants whose stories pull your sympathy in several directions at once, so when I was first summoned for jury duty, I was quite prepared for the reality to be a big disappointment.

It wasn’t, as it happens.

Mine wasn’t a big headline case or anything, and it only took a couple of days, but I found the whole experience fascinating. Our legal system is one of the things that reinforces our democracy, and jurors are an integral part of it. One morning you are just like anyone else, going about your daily life, and the next you, alongside 11 others, have the ability to forever alter someone else’s life.

If you don’t want to appear on a jury, frankly it isn’t that hard to get out of. You can apply in writing with a number of excuses, and from stories I’ve heard those excuses don’t have to be great, or even entirely genuine. You can apply verbally to the judge on the day, and again your reason is only limited by your imagination. I’ve heard of some people who dress down, make odd outbursts or even fake medical conditions so that they never make it past the selection process. And in many cases, I can imagine why they would – cases that are expected to last weeks, not days; particularly distressing crimes, or just the reality of having to take time away from your regular life to do your duty.

As a result, some of the people who end up on juries aren’t exactly there out of a sense of civic pride. In my case, we had one juror who would not be convinced of the same verdict as the other 11 of us (not guilty, in case you’re keeping score) – until the free lunch had been delivered. So the idea of being tried by a jury of your peers is a little skewed. Some of your peers may be there just for something to do, or for the food.

I don’t think that matters. That’s why there are 12 of you, picked at random. It’s not a perfect cross-section of society, but it’s a good attempt. It allows people from different backgrounds, with differing views and a different range of experience to come together and collectively decide guilt or innocence.

So if you get the call, do all of us a favour. Answer it.