Civil Service in the news
Puzzling the time away - life in the jury waiting room
9/11/2007 - Ministry of Justice [External website] 
A day with a jury officer at Nottingham Crown Court proves that 'unflappability' is a crucial jobholder requirement.
It's mid-morning on Monday in the jury waiting room at Nottingham Crown Court and the room is buzzing with chatter. Forty new jurors in their first week of jury service are mingling with those who are on their second and final week. The tables are covered with half-built jigsaw puzzles.
It's up to jury officer Denise Winwood to reassure those who are looking and feeling lost. “It's my job to make sure everyone's in the right place at the right time,” she says. “Jurors need a friendly face and someone to talk to as everything is unfamiliar. Hopefully, I put them at ease.”
This morning, six of the eight criminal courts have trials listed. The day started at 8.30am with quiet, nervous jurors reporting for service, many with out-of-date identity forms or none at all. “I haven't got any ID but I am who I say I am,” says one woman, before asking: “Am I in the naughty corner now?”
Denise calmly issues the same instructions many times over, telling people where to collect their swipe card to use the court's catering services and mildly admonishing those whose passports or driving licences have out-of-date addresses. “You'll be asked the same questions time and again but it's how you conduct yourself with that person,” she says. “You have to talk to them as if they're the only person you're worried about.”
Denise has worked at the court for 15 years and has been a jury officer for the past nine. “I like to help and I use my mothering instincts. I once had to tell a juror that his mother-in-law had died.”
The new jurors watch attentively as they are shown a short film explaining who's who in a courtroom, the trial process and their duties. The film reminds them: “You will decide whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty based on the evidence you see and hear in the courtroom.”
Denise warns the group that as jurors they will be the last people to walk into a full courtroom. “I had to let you know that because sometimes it can be a bit of a shock,” she explains.
In response to a message that a jury is needed for a two-day trial in Court Four, where a man is accused of a sexual offence, Denise creates a computer-generated panel of 16 people from her almost 100-strong group of jurors. She has just 10 minutes. “It's no good flapping,” she says. “You need to think on your feet to sort things out quickly.”
Usher Pat Huyton leads the newly created panel to Court Four's jury deliberating room where she runs through the process of swearing an oath, or affirming - for those who choose a non-religious declaration. In response to Pat's enquiry if other holy books are required, the jurors-in waiting say they are happy to swear on the Bible.
In court, the clerk shuffles their names on cards and reads out the first 12. The defendant has the right to reject any of the jurors, but he makes no objection.
Back in the jury waiting room Denise addresses jurors who are still waiting: “I'm sorry that you're still here. There are four trials still listed without juries so you aren't sitting here without a reason.”
Denise gets an instant message on her computer: 'Do not need a jury until after 2pm in Court Seven'. After she has created another panel she announces the names and tells the waiting jurors they're really lucky.
They can leave the building and have lunch as long as they're back by 2pm. A juror's face breaks into a huge smile, delighted at the news that the waiting is over. “This is the bit I hate,” says Denise. “There's nothing worse than sitting about. I wish they could all be sworn onto a trial in the morning.”
Denise stays in the room until the last juror has gone home. When she's not answering the phone, helping jurors or creating panels, she has to process a large pile of expense claims.
“I love the busyness, I wouldn't want it any other way,” she says.
HMCS at a glance
HMCS is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice and has nearly 20,000 staff. It manages courts across England and Wales including 90 Crown Courts, 360 magistrates' courts, 228 county courts and the Royal Courts of Justice. In the last financial year it worked with partners to bring more than a million offences to justice, resulting in more than 900,000 convictions.
Jury service - it could be you
Working nine weeks in advance, Denise sends weekly requests for jurors to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau based on the number of courts sitting and the estimated length of each trial. The bureau generates a pool of randomly selected names from electronic copies of the electoral register. On average, about one hundred people will be on jury.