Getting excused from serving as a juror
As a Caymanian, I am truly happy to carry out juror duty for my country — it is an honour to do this. However, I am self-employed and my business is literally not able to run without me present, which can impact heavily on the income for my family. Should I be called for juror duty during a period when I will lose business and income but can make myself happily available at another time, how do I handle this situation best?
Auntie’s answer: I am glad you feel so strongly about serving as a juror that you are asking in advance how to still be able to fulfil your civic duty if it conflicts with an important time for your business. However, you seem to be implying that there may not be a time where your income would not be affected by being in court.
Either way, the Cayman Islands Judicial Information website deals with this potential conflict on its Explanatory Notes to Prospective Jurors page.
Specifically to your question, it says, “If service on a long trial will cause you exceptional hardship (e.g. if you are self-employed and run your own business or if you have some other unavoidable commitment that would be severely affected) you must write to the Clerk before the commencement of your session, stating this and the reasons for it. The Chief Justice or another judge will decide whether you should be excused from jury service.”
To contact the Clerk of the Courts, call (244-3817) or email Shiona Allenger.
By the way, the referenced webpage answers a whole range of relevant questions about being a juror, which would be useful to anyone who is selected to serve.
Category: Ask Auntie, Courts Questions
Unregister to vote, problem solved.
The stupidity is that when you register to vote, you are automatically on list of being called as a juror.
A dumb old fashioned system, dating back centuries.
Being a juror or even casting a vote, should be limited to a small group of educated people, that have studied society.
People here vote for anthony eden, because they hate gays. That is proof of why we need an exam before you can vote.
A plumber needs to sit a test, an electrician needs to sit a test, so a voter should undergo the same.
A democracy works best when only educated people have the right to vote.
And just get rid of this juror system. How can an accountant possibly understand why somebody murdered the rapist of his daughter.
Unfortunately you can’t unregister to vote. Already tried it.
Yes you can by rip up the Caymanian passport!
Being Self Employed was not excused…..went through this last year and had to close my shop!
Civic Duty – The obligation of a citizen to their community: to be held captive by the judicial system at a wage rate that covers a gas station burrito and some old fried coffee for some incident that does not concern you or anyone on the group call list. To forego all potential income for said day/week/period of time to appear in court. To sit in the busiest time of traffic on a specified weekday in order to avoid a bench warrant. To put one’s responsibilities and prior obligations on hold and pretend to give a cr@p about being unbiased and objective.
There needs to be some sort of training for jurors before they are allowed to sit on any jury, because if you are guilty as hell a jury trial in Cayman is far better than hiring the best QC in the world.
I once sat on a jury with seven people, and two of those seven, who from all appearances and the jobs that they held would lead you to believe they were intelligent people. But when presented with overwhelming evidence, the adopted the attitude that if they weren’t present to see it happen then the person might not have done it.
So, if you are guilty ask for a jury trial. The worse that can happen is that you are judged by someone not smart enough to get out of jury duty!
omg i have said this same thing.. jurors should be trained/educated before they can even sit down!! THANK YOU !!
If things get tough, wear a Donald Trump t-shirt to Court and ask the usher when you get in “where do the criminals sit”. This should get you discharged from duty quite quickly.
I’ve served before and happy to do so! However finding a place to park was quite an ordeal – often resulting in numerous trips around Town. We really have outgrown the current Courthouse and need a new one outside Town centre with ample parking.
Agreed. I served too, just last year and had the same issue.