A jury summons has arrived: what to do, how long it lasts and what it pays

A white envelope with a crown and the word Summons frightens people raised in another legal system: it looks as if you are being called about your own case. You are not — you are being called to help decide someone else’s. You cannot simply refuse, but you can move the date, and lost earnings are partly repaid. Here is the order of play and the deadlines.

Who can get a jury summons?

Anyone on the electoral register who has lived here for at least five years and fits the age range. There are exactly three conditions: you are 18 to 75 on the day jury service starts; you have lived in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least five years without gaps, after the age of 13; and you are registered to vote. The third one matters more than it looks: the Juries Act 1974 speaks not of citizenship but of being “registered as a parliamentary or local government elector”. So a foreign national with settled status who has put themselves on their borough’s local electoral roll falls into the same pool as a British citizen. Names are picked from that register at random.

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What happens if you simply ignore it?

A fine of up to £1,000 — and it applies even to people who would never be allowed to sit. You must respond within 7 days of receiving the summons, online or by returning the paper form. If the law disqualifies you from jury service, you still have to reply: the reply is where you say so. Silence counts as failing to turn up, and failing to turn up is a fine.

Who is disqualified?

People with recent or heavy criminal convictions, and people currently on bail. You cannot serve if you are on bail; if in the last 10 years you received a prison sentence, detention order, suspended sentence or community sentence; if you have ever had a prison sentence or detention order of 5 years or more, including life; if you are currently sectioned under the Mental Health Act; or if you lack the mental capacity to serve. The same rule applies in all of these cases: reply within 7 days.

How long does it last and what is a day like?

Usually up to 10 working days, from 10am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday. If a trial is likely to run longer than ten days, jury staff tell you in advance; if it is shorter, you may be put on another trial inside your service period. On the first day you arrive earlier — the exact time is on the summons — and bring the summons or confirmation letter plus identification: a passport, photo driving licence or Home Office documents showing your UK immigration status. Phones, tablets and laptops may be brought into the building and used in the jury assembly area, but not in the deliberation room; courts have lockers. There is no strict dress code — jeans and a t-shirt are fine, beachwear is not, and headwear only for religious reasons.

What does it pay and what can you claim back?

No salary at all, but loss of earnings and expenses are covered. For the first 10 days of service: up to £64.95 a day if you spend more than four hours at court, up to £32.47 if four hours or less. The same allowance covers extra childcare or other care outside your usual arrangements. If service runs beyond 10 working days, the ceiling doubles to £129.91 and £64.95. Food and drink: £5.71 a day, rising to £12.17 if you spend more than ten hours at court. Travel: the cost of a bus, underground or standard-class return train ticket; 31.4p a mile by car or motorcycle, 9.6p by bicycle, plus 4.2p a mile for carrying one other juror. A taxi only with the court’s permission, asked for in advance. Accommodation and travel outside England and Wales are not covered. Claims go in at the end of your service and no later than 12 months after it started; payment usually follows in 7 to 10 working days.

What about work and benefits?

Your employer must give you the time off, but does not have to pay you for it. Hand over a copy of the summons straight away. Your employer may ask you to delay your service if your absence would seriously affect the business — but may not forbid it. If you are not allowed time off, you can complain to an employment tribunal, and being sacked over jury service may be unfair dismissal. If you are not paid, the court covers loss of earnings on a form your employer completes (self-employed jurors fill in their own and attach evidence, such as the latest tax return). If you receive benefits, show the summons to your benefit office or work coach: Universal Credit and other support continue as normal for the first 8 weeks, after which the court issues a loss of earnings form for the office.

Can you move the date or be excused?

You can move it once, to a date within the next 12 months; being excused altogether takes exceptional circumstances. Good reasons for moving include an operation, an exam, an employer refusing time off, a holiday already booked, being a new parent, or living outside England and Wales; explain in detail in your reply and suggest three dates that work. Excusal is granted for serious illness or disability, full-time caring, new parenthood where no other date works — and you can also ask if you did jury service in the last 2 years. A refusal can be appealed in writing to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau in Bradford, quoting your juror number from the summons, your date of birth, the court and your service dates. A useful detail: the Bureau can move your service to a different court if you were summoned far from where you now live — after a house move, or if you study away from the family home.

What if your English is imperfect?

A judge decides, not you and not the Bureau. Section 10 of the Juries Act 1974 covers exactly this: where court staff doubt a summoned person’s capacity to act effectively as a juror because of insufficient understanding of English, the person is brought before the judge, who decides whether they should serve or discharges the summons. Staying away on language grounds without doing that is still a failure to attend, with the same fine.

What must a juror never do?

Discuss the trial outside the deliberation room — and above all, post about it. Until the trial ends you must not discuss it with anyone except fellow jurors in the deliberation room. Afterwards you must never reveal what happened in that room, even to family; what happened in the courtroom you may discuss. Posting about the case on social media is contempt of court, punishable by a fine or prison, including after the trial has finished. If anyone approaches you about the case, tell a court officer — or a police officer if it happens away from court.

Why does this matter right now?

Because the role of juries has just been reaffirmed at government level: on 4 October 2026 the Ministry of Justice dropped its plan to try some serious cases without them, which we covered separately in England keeps jury trials. Meanwhile the backlog is at a record: 80,829 open cases at the Crown Court at the end of June 2026. Summonses are not going to become rarer. If the courts touch you from another side, see our guides to making a money claim, what to do if you are arrested and how the employment tribunal works.