My first jury summons in my retirement.

[Northern_Piper]

@psychonaut

You’re never too old to learn another language.

Seriously, though, I’m not aware of any jurisdiction in Canada that requires jurors in criminal trials to speak French. At least in Quebec, it’s left to the defendant to decide whether the trial will be conducted in English or in French. The jury doesn’t need to be bilingual unless the trial has at least two defendants who have chosen two different languages.

In Quebec, the courts operate primarily in French, so the presumption is that jurors need to speak French.

An anglophone has a right to a trial in English (just like a francophone has a right to a trial in French in other provinces), but only if they ask for it.

The courts in a big centre like Montreal are more adaptive to either language, but in the smaller centres that are primarily francophone, French is the normal working language of the courts.

[Bookkeeper]

I was only summoned once, back in the 80s. I was asked what I did for a living, replied that I was a Federal civil servant, and the defence lawyer challenged. Got a day off with pay out of it*, but had looked forward to the experience.

(*Paid jury leave. The government wants their employees to do their civic duty!)

[Northern_Piper]

I got a notice a few years ago. Lawyers here can’t serve on a jury, so I just phoned up the sheriff and told him. He chuckled and said he would take me off the pool.