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Excusal from jury service

Guide to Eligibility and Excusal

If you feel your particular circumstances may merit excusal from service, you should review the information provided below and in our Guide to Eligibility and Excusal.

This guide also provides details about those people who are not qualified for jury service, disqualified from jury service or ineligible for jury service.

It is an offence to serve on a jury knowing that you fall into any of these three categories.

The guide sets out who is entitled to request the court to be excused from jury service, as this is possible in certain, specific circumstances. If you wish to apply for excusal on the basis of ill-health or physical disability, then you must enclose a medical certificate along with your application for excusal. This can normally be obtained free of charge from your GP.

Apply for an excusal

If you wish to apply for excusal due to another special reason, for example commitments at work, cancellation of which would cause abnormal inconvenience either to yourself or others, or holiday plans which would be difficult or expensive to rearrange, you should complete the relevant sections of the application.

You must also provide evidence to support your request, for example a holiday booking confirmation or letter from your employer.

Applications for excusals are dealt with sympathetically by the courts, however, it must be understood that in some circumstances, the court may not be able to excuse individuals.

Apply for an excusal

For more information, please make contact through the telephone number provided with your citation.

What to provide for your excusal application

Please provide a supporting document as to why you are seeking excusal, some examples are: a doctor’s letter, holiday booking confirmation or a letter from your work.

Please also include your full name, personal ID and the date you are cited to attend court, all of this information is found on the front page of your jury citation.

Photographs from your phone or scanned documents will be accepted as evidence for excusal through our email.