No more excuses for jury service
Only the Queen, the mentally ill and people with a criminal record will be exempt from jury service under the plans aimed at tilting the scales of justice in favour of victims
Does this include ALL amnesiacs?
I can’t remember.
So Princess Anne will be exempt for all the wrong reasons then ;).
Here’s a link to the story, and here’s the Guardian’s take on it. It’s only a Bill so far, of course, and some clauses in it are very controversial, so I’ll eat my licquorice hat if it’s passed unamended.
A quick perusal of the Bill indicates that you can be excused from jury service if you’re in the forces (and provided you get a note from your CO), or if you’ve been locked up for a crime (so that excludes Anne after all). Being the monarch isn’t specifically mentioned, but you don’t have to serve if you’re not a registered voter - which surely strikes off all peers and minor royals as well as Her Maj?
Mental illness is no joke, however, and you would be excused if you were receiving therapy for clinical amnesia, not if you just forgot to show up.
If you want to avoid jury service, the best technique is to tell them the dog ate the summons.
Presumably the idea is that the electoral roll will be extended to include everyone liable for jury service, but with the names marked in such a way as to indicate who cannot vote. Incidentally, it is now only those peers who still have a seat in the Lords who are barred from voting and, as none of the royal dukes continue to sit in the Lords, all adult members of the Royal Family, except the Queen, are now eligible to vote. Yes, Prince Philip will have been registered as a voter.
That the bill won’t specifically mention the Queen will exclude her from its provisions, as Acts of Parliament don’t apply to the monarch unless they specify that they do.
Has he been found loitering in Blackburn too?
Thanks for the clarification.
Everton says:
Mental illness is no joke, however, and you would be excused if you were receiving therapy for clinical amnesia, not if you just forgot to show up.
I thought it obvious that I was not referring to clinical amnesia. If I must spell it out I was referring to One’s Royal amnesia.