Gardaí and Courts to crack down on jury duty shirkers
Changes to legislation, introduced in 2008, increased the fine for failing to comply with a jury summons to €500 — 10 times the previous penalty — but that threat has not proved a deterrent to the thousands of people who are no-shows each year.
A Courts Service spokesman said the numbers prosecuted and fined under this law were very small, but this would change: “We are working on a way of liaising with the gardaí in terms of enforcing the law. We are not a prosecuting body, but we are working on a protocol that would make it much easier for the gardaí to prosecute and for the law to be effective.”
While the Courts Service already compile the names of summoned jurors who fail to turn up, the lists alone are of little use to gardaí without proof of the no-show.
Work is under way to draw up a checklist of procedures to establish for certain whether the potential juror ignored the summons, made an attempt to contact the jury office, or turned up on the day but missed their name being called.
The spokesman said on average a third of those summoned could not serve because they were in excluded categories, a third sought exemptions for work or personal reasons, and a third made themselves available.
He said the no-shows were a minority, but there have been high-profile examples of wholesale jury-dodging, most notably at the start of the trial of the Anglo Irish Bank executives last year, when 1,500 jury summonses were issued and only 350 potential jurors turned up.
The problem was also highlighted at Ennis Circuit Court in 2011, when many cases had to be adjourned because of the 250 people summoned, just 35 showed up.
The difficulties posed by jury service have come under the spotlight because of the Ian Bailey civil hearing, which finished on Monday after four and a half months in court when it was slated to last six weeks.
One juror had to be excused for work reasons as the case dragged on, and the hearing could have been jeopardised if any others had been forced to quit due to illness or family emergency.
Potential jurors are sourced from the electoral register and many people do not register to vote.
Attempts have been made to make jury service less daunting in recent years. The practice of sequestering juries — holding them in hotels overnight during deliberations — has been discontinued so they get home each day.
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