How to: AVOID JURY DUTY

Hi everyone! Sorry that this post is a couple of days late but I spent the past week at a residential course and on the day that I left I also had an exam so I didn't have time to write a post in advance to post on Thursday when I was away.

The course was about criminal law which is why I have chosen this topic today. I just want to start by saying:
a) this post is not serious, I don't actually recommend you do any of these things purely to avoid jury duty;
b) these are random facts I learnt throughout my course, which was an intro to criminal law issues for 16 - 17 year olds so they may not be completely factually correct
*c) I am not making light of or being disrespectful in any way but I realise that it may sound like it so I've written this little disclaimer to avoid being offensive.

Moving on then,

Almost anyone over the age of 18 can be conscripted for jury duty and it is often very difficult to successfully appeal and not serve. Depending on the severity of the case, jurors may be required to stay in protected accommodation ie. mafia cases. For lower risk cases jurors are required to commute and their expenses are subsidised up to £40.50.

How to Avoid Jury Duty:

1) Have a criminal conviction - criminals broke the law so there are doubts about how they could 'serve' the law to others;

2) Don't register to vote - only registered voters can be conscripted for jury duty;

3) Become a member of the House of Lords - it's seen as a conflict of interest similar to the fact that the Lords have no say in any bills passed through parliament regarding taxes;

4) Become a politician, doctor, minister or join the armed forces or police force - some jobs are exempt from jury service since they are considered too important to society to be taken out of their jobs and it could be seen as a conflict of interest;

5) Be older than 71 or 65 - you can be excused from a criminal case if you are older than 71 and do not want to serve and no one over the age of 65 can serve on a civil case (criminal cases are the cases where you are prosecuted by the crown or the police and civil cases are where people sue each other)

*6) Have a mental disability - if a person is considered to not have the mental capability to make rational and logical judgements then it would be unethical to conscript them as jurors

I doubt that this is a complete list but these are bits I picked up throughout my course. I apologise if I've offended anyone, this was not my intention.

Has anyone served jury duty? How did you feel about it? One debate that we had was 'Should jury duty be abolished in Britain?' I'd love to hear your views :) Feel free to comment.