Jury duty

[Mick D]

Reminds me of the famous quote where the defendant was asked "Do you wish to be judged in absentia or by a jury of your peers?" to which the defendant replied "What do you mean by "peers"your Honour?"
"By that I mean you will be judged by 12 people just like yourself" replied the Magistrate
"Well in that case I'll take in absentia, whatever that is, because I don't want to be judged by 12 car thieves"

And thank God, Juror selection is a bit more rigorous and testing than that unlikely scenario. 

[Tomas]

Well, it is time for Australia to become republic and get rid of this stupid justice system. Judges get pay  hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so let them decide. What kind of democracy/freedom  is being penalised for not voting or being asked to decide that somebody i have never met or heard of is guilty or not. Even comunists never asked anybody to do that. It is time for you people to stop being sheep and put up with this freedom b...s. Lived in Australia for fiveteen years and have not voted once.  Also if you selected for jury, just tell them that you are a practising christian and you belive that the God can only decide who is gulty and who is not. They will probably think your a wierd but who cares.

I don't agree Tomas.
I always do jury duty.
 I would rather 12 of you guys judge me than some drunken old judge.
Once got done for undue care and attention . [ Head on with a shela on my side of the road but I was on a bike so I was in the wrong]
At the end of the case the judge said I was traveling at a dangerous speed [ less than 80ks in a 100k zone according to the prosecutor  ]
That was when everyone in the court [ prosecutor included ] figured the judge was drunk.

Also sat in the family court and seen a judge tell the fathers barrister to wind it up because she had to go out to dinner.
Let judges have free rein , not a bloody chance.

Fair enough. Drunk judge is wrong. For example French legal system is interesting. There is always more than one judge. Imagine two drunk judges arguing over who is guilty and who is not 
Also fair enough if you happy to do jury. What i dont agree with is being penalize for not wanting to be involved. Not everyone is interested in politics etc. Australia as a modern and young country should adopt modern laws etc. rather than go with something that was already outdated whe it was brought here hunderd years ago. There are beter legal systems than old English system.

[Mick D]

Well, it is time for Australia to become republic and get rid of this stupid justice system. Judges get pay  hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so let them decide. What kind of democracy/freedom  is being penalised for not voting or being asked to decide that somebody i have never met or heard of is guilty or not. Even comunists never asked anybody to do that. It is time for you people to stop being sheep and put up with this freedom b...s. Lived in Australia for fiveteen years and have not voted once.  Also if you selected for jury, just tell them that you are a practising christian and you belive that the God can only decide who is gulty and who is not. They will probably think your a wierd but who cares.

You seem to have a lot of advise for us, for someone who has only been here for fifteen years and have not voted once.
Where are you from, is your country perfect?

[Tomas]

Well, it is time for Australia to become republic and get rid of this stupid justice system. Judges get pay  hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so let them decide. What kind of democracy/freedom  is being penalised for not voting or being asked to decide that somebody i have never met or heard of is guilty or not. Even comunists never asked anybody to do that. It is time for you people to stop being sheep and put up with this freedom b...s. Lived in Australia for fiveteen years and have not voted once.  Also if you selected for jury, just tell them that you are a practising christian and you belive that the God can only decide who is gulty and who is not. They will probably think your a wierd but who cares.

You seem to have a lot of advise for us, for someone who has only been here for fifteen years and have not voted once.
Where are you from, is your country perfect?

Have you lived in other country than Australia Mick D? I guess not.

[Sorelegs11]

Jimson, tell them that you are a Seven day Adventist and that due to your religious convictions you are unable to take sides or make judgement on your fellow man,
Worked for me once when I did not vote. 

[Gippslander]

Be aware of the penalties for the making of a false statement -- serious time...

CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 330
False statement on oath not amounting to perjury
330 False statement on oath not amounting to perjury

A person who makes on oath any false statement knowing the statement to be false or not believing it to be true, if it is not perjury, is liable to imprisonment for 5 years.

[Mike52]

Well, it is time for Australia to become republic and get rid of this stupid justice system. Judges get pay  hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so let them decide. What kind of democracy/freedom  is being penalised for not voting or being asked to decide that somebody i have never met or heard of is guilty or not. Even comunists never asked anybody to do that. It is time for you people to stop being sheep and put up with this freedom b...s. Lived in Australia for fiveteen years and have not voted once.  Also if you selected for jury, just tell them that you are a practising christian and you belive that the God can only decide who is gulty and who is not. They will probably think your a wierd but who cares.

Fair enough. Drunk judge is wrong. For example French legal system is interesting. There is always more than one judge. Imagine two drunk judges arguing over who is guilty and who is not 
Also fair enough if you happy to do jury. What i dont agree with is being penalize for not wanting to be involved. Not everyone is interested in politics etc. Australia as a modern and young country should adopt modern laws etc. rather than go with something that was already outdated whe it was brought here hunderd years ago. There are beter legal systems than old English system.

The Egyptian , Chinese and Indonesian systems use a couple of judges.
Still would rather 12 ordinary people.
And while we are on the republic idea who should we copy.
Zimbabwe , Congo , North Korea , China , America , Indonesia , Malaysia?
Believe it or not I sort of like it the way it is.
A Queen that we never see and who doesn't tell us what to do is my kind of ruler.

[DR500]

having been called up 4 times to do jury duty, i still find the system very interesting and as my employer said " it's my civic duty to do it".

[fred99999au]

I've never been called once. Might be due to appearing in front of a magistrate a couple of times as a younger fella on traffic stuff as "the defendant".

[TooFastTim]

Well, it is time for Australia to become republic and get rid of this stupid justice system.

What's that got to with the OP? Aus has inherited the English system and, as legal systems go, it's pretty good.It's had 800 years to mature. The Aus system is already diverging from English common law by virtue of it becoming codified and what were once called Queens Counsel are now called States Counsel. It's diverging but becoming a republic won't make a  gnats pube of difference. In short it's not a judicial matter but one of law and there's a difference.

To return to Jimsons problem, The onus is on the prosecution to prove that you received the jury call-up papers. If they can't prove it you're probably  in the clear.

[jimson]

It would appear this is for real. I went to my local court yesterday & they said all previous mail had gone to a address I have not lived at for over 6 years. The only reason the government have my address I'm at now is I have opened a myGov account. So I have voted over the last 6 years & never been asked my address as I live in the same suburb just a different house & assumed the government new were I lived as I do my tax every year. So now I still have to fight it  yesterday I phoned 3 different places sent letters emailes & I still don't know what's happening. Jimson

[Nathan S]

The secret is to not give up. Sooner or later, you'll get someone who will recognise that the effort vs reward ratio isn't in the favour.

Did you change your licence?

[jimson]

Yes I always do the right thing  do my tax every year,move my license over to my new address, All the government agencies aren't connected so we are held accountable for there failure to be more organised. Jimson

[Nathan S]

If you change your address in/to the ACT, then they automatically pass the info to the Australian Electoral Commission, who then automatically change your address on the electoral role. I thought NSW was the same?!

[jimson]

Not in NSW Nathan. well after sleepless nights emails & phone calls I'm in the clear. life is back to normal  So happy Thanks to all. jimson