Jury duty deferral request

A summons is an order, and the answer to it is a deadline, not a favour. Reply in time and a deferral is usually granted once; fail to attend without being excused and the penalty follows. What is needed from you is short and specific: the juror number on the summons, the reason, and — if you are asking to move rather than to be let off — the dates you cannot attend and a window when you can. In England and Wales the letter goes to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau, and some grounds of excusal are yours as of right.

Reply within the deadline on the summons — in England and Wales that is seven days — and do it even if you are sure the answer will be no: what gets people fined is failing to attend without having been excused, not asking for the wrong thing. In England and Wales the reply goes to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau at the address on the summons, not to the court that will hear the trial. A deferral is normally granted once, to a date within twelve months, so ask to move rather than to be let off unless you truly cannot serve at all — and if one of the grounds on the form applies to you, name it: the Bureau does not weigh those the way it weighs a personal reason. If the Bureau refuses, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed by the court; the refusal letter tells you how. Do not overstate your reason: making a false representation to evade jury service is itself an offence. In the United States, federal courts follow the Jury Selection and Service Act, which lets a juror be excused for undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, while each state court sets its own rules — pick the right one on the form, and follow the summons rather than any general advice, this page included.

Filled in and laid out entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.