The jury system is the moral backbone of the legal system, and the principle of judgement by your peers a key principle underpinning the jurisprudence of Scotland. But as The Firm’s reporter found out, in practice it is riddled with bureaucracy, administrative error, duplication and time wasting that leave it a world away from its lofty ideals.

The average professional dreads coming home to find the envelope posted through their door that heralds the news that they have been cited for jury duty. Not because it is a particularly arduous task; far from it. It is because we live in the digital age where all places of work drive at a rapid pace. Things are expected at a much faster rate and the thought of having to give up a week to become involved in the delivery of justice will be less than appealing to most. At the same time, it is every person’s civic duty, and their place of work should understand that. But that‘s the trouble with jury duty – someone cited may well show up but that is no guarantee that they will be needed...at all!

This was my experience when called to attend Glasgow’s Sheriff Court after the New Year as a potential member of a jury. The news of this wasn’t greeted by my boss or colleagues with any hint of joy, as with working in a small team, the possibility of losing someone for a week even on annual leave sets everyone back and passes on more work and responsibility to everyone else.

And so on my first day back from festive celebrations I went into work a couple of hours early to try and get something done before attending court at 11am. The time had been relayed to me by a voice on the other end of the pre-attendance phone line to be at the allotted court, despite my form advising me that actually 9.45am was when I would be needed.

And so being the conscientious fellow that I am I made it to court a little early at 10.40am only to meet the brother of one of my best friends, who had also been cited for the same court. He had been waiting since 9.45am as the form had said, unaware that he could have called the number the night before. Apparently a few people made the same mistake. So we trotted along to find the correct court room and stood outside for a while, until we were brought into the courtroom by the Clerk of court, who was worried that the numbers were a lot lower than had been called for. As she began to explain what could happen over the week ahead, more potential jurors began to sporadically arrive. The clerk was then surprised to find that the phone line had advised that people arrive at 11am as she had thought the time to gather was 10.30am. Already it was clear that things were not as well organised as would be expected of Europe’s busiest court.

And so on the third time of being told what would happen over the week ahead due to the number of new faces who were gradually appearing and had missed it the first and second time, the announcement was made that we wouldn’t be needed on that day at all. There was an audible groan from many around the room, but we were told to call the phone line that night to find out if we would be needed the next day, as there were two cases coming up.

And so out we trudged. Some moaned about the length of time it had taken them to get there that day, and the preparations they had to make, all just to be told that they were not needed. It felt like a total waste of time that could potentially drag on all week.

My colleagues were bemused at me returning to work less than an hour after I’d left it, expecting me to be delivering the ends of justice and championing the strengths of the Scottish legal system.

Luckily on phoning later that night the voice on the other end of the line this time announced that we were not needed the next day at all, and to call again the following night. This was all well and good, but while it meant I could get my job done, the feeling that I was unable to plan my week to include any meetings riled me somewhat. Though the legal system didn’t need me for a day, I had many other things I could have planned had I known that in advance.

And so the next night I called to be informed that I was to attend a court at 11am which meant a similar routine to that of Monday. Into work early, then off to the court, telling everyone I’d check in when I could later on. Later on turned out to be once again 12pm when I was back at my desk having turned up again, met my friend’s brother, talked a great deal, been called into the courtroom, sat waiting for 15 minutes only to be informed that the witnesses had not turned up. We were to call that evening to find out if we were needed the next day. A pattern was already forming. Around 40 people had shown up on time and been turned away for a second time to return to their average day and salvage what they could from it. This made me wonder whether or not such treatment meant that jurors taken into trial later in the week were already biased against the accused due to all the time wasting they had to endure beforehand.

Sure enough the next day we were “needed” for court, and the same routine followed as it had on the two previous days. This time I arrived just before 11am as I felt that even if I was slightly late, I wouldn’t miss much. I was right. All 40 of us were brought back into the courtroom to be informed that no cases were going to trial that day and that we were not needed. The groan that was audible on Monday was even more so following this news. In fact one man made their displeasure quite blatant to the person sitting next to them with a loud ‘Oh for God’s sake.’ A lot of people had gone to a lot of effort and by Thursday morning most of us had spent more time looking for the courtroom than actually sitting in it.

On our departure my friend’s brother bumped into another acquaintance who was waiting outside a court alongside around thirty other morose looking potential jurors. His experience, he told us had been similar to ours and he had come and gone all week. Once again we were advised to call the line that night and see if we were needed on the Friday – fortunately we were not. One more wasted day would probably have seen members of jury commit hate crimes due to the levels of frustration being felt by this point.

So all that time by so many people in the space of a week was squandered. Any goodwill I felt about jury service had long since vanished, and I suspect my fellow potential jurors felt the same. Whoever was nearly the accused at the end of the week had a lucky escape.

But surely, with so many people spending so much time, and with expenses and lost wages being claimed through the system, the Scottish courts are paying out a fortune for absolutely nothing. Surely there is a better, more organised way that will keep and indeed grow the goodwill of the public towards jury service. I have spoken to others since who have been cited and have said they were called back and forth too without ever reaching trial. Surely the phoneline could be called at 10am on the day to inform people to gather or not. Sure, it doesn’t help with planning the week ahead, but at the very least it doesn’t waste people’s time traveling for nothing. Communications must be improved in the courts between each other and the public it serves. It can only benefit the system to review the procedures of court and jury service and bring the public back on its side.