Introduction
While you are a student at the University of Westminster, you may receive a jury summons, a letter summoning you to take part in jury service. Your name will have been selected randomly from the electoral register and you are legally obliged to serve unless you have a good reason why you cannot. You need to respond to the jury summons either online or by post within seven days. If you do not do this or do not turn up for your jury service you can be fined up to £1,000.
Jury service normally lasts 10 working days but in some cases this can be longer if the trial is extended. It is normally expected that you will serve at the time you are summoned. However, you can ask to be excused from jury service or to defer it to a later date.
Excusal or deferral of jury service
There may be circumstances when it is not possible for you to undertake jury service and you can ask to be excused or to defer to a later date. You'll need to provide your reasons for this and submit evidence with your response to the jury summons. Further information on permitted reasons for an excusal or a deferral can be found on the Government website. Your request will be considered and if this is refused you can submit an appeal to the Head of the Jury Central Summoning Bureau.
If your jury service interferes with your studies and/or impacts your assessments, you can request to defer your jury service. You can only defer once and for no longer than 12 months. You may be asked to provide alternative dates when you will be available to serve after the 12-month deferral period has ended. You should offer dates outside of your term dates and assessment periods (eg vacation periods). If you are unsure about your course dates, please contact the Student Centre.
The University cannot request a deferral on your behalf, but we can provide a confirmation of enrolment letter on request. This will confirm your student status and your course start and end dates and can be used as evidence to support your request for a deferral.
Interruption of studies and mitigating circumstances
If you cannot defer or be excused from your jury service then you'll need to consider the potential impact on your studies and/or assessments. If you are asked to serve on a case that is likely to last more than 10 days, you may need to interrupt your studies to the next possible start date. This will either be the following semester or the next academic year depending on when your modules next run. If the jury service impacts on just your assessment, then you may need to submit mitigating circumstances. In either case, you are strongly advised to speak to your Personal Tutor for advice or contact Student Advice via the Student Centre.
Further information
Further information about jury service and deferrals can be found on the Government website.
If you have any further questions about this or how to complete the form and what is needed, you are advised to contact the Jury Central Summoning Bureau directly. The website includes their phone number, email address and opening times.