Few envelopes cause as much anxiety as the one from the court telling you that you have been called for jury duty. The first question is usually the same: do I really have to go? In most cases, yes. It is how ordinary people take part directly in the justice system. This guide explains what jury duty is, how courts choose who gets called, what happens on the day, and how the rules differ in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Details vary by country, state and province, so check your local court before you act.
What jury duty actually is
A jury is a group of ordinary citizens chosen to decide the facts in a trial. The judge decides questions of law and tells the jury what the law is; the jury listens to the evidence, decides what happened, and returns a verdict. In a criminal trial that verdict is guilty or not guilty; in a civil trial it is usually about liability and compensation.
Most people who are called never sit on a trial: being summoned does not mean you will serve. Courts summon far more people than they need, because many are excused, deferred or not selected. Many courts now run a one-day or one-trial system: if you are not selected that day, your obligation is finished.
How courts find your name
Nobody applies for jury duty, and nobody is picked because of who they are. Courts draw names at random from public lists. In the United States, every federal court starts with the voter registration lists for its district, adding licensed-driver lists if voter lists alone would not give a fair cross-section. The names go into a master jury wheel, from which names are drawn at random. People drawn receive a qualification questionnaire to complete and return, usually within ten days. When a trial needs jurors, a panel is drawn at random from the qualified pool and sent a summons.
The same principle applies elsewhere. In England and Wales, the Jury Central Summoning Bureau picks names at random from the electoral register and sends a summons that must be answered within seven days. In Canada, names come at random from provincial lists: Ontario uses its health registration list, other provinces use voters’ lists. In Australia, potential jurors are drawn at random from the electoral roll in their state.
Who can serve: the United States
Federal jury service has six baseline requirements. You must be a United States citizen, at least 18 years old, and have lived in the court’s judicial district for at least one year. You must be able to read, write, understand and speak English well enough to follow a trial. You must not currently face a felony charge carrying more than a year in prison, and you must not have a felony conviction unless your civil rights have been legally restored. Federal law also prohibits excluding anyone because of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin or economic status.
Some groups are exempt even if they otherwise qualify, including active-duty armed forces and National Guard members and professional fire and police departments. Others can ask to be excused or deferred, for example because of serious illness, caring responsibilities, or because they served on a federal jury within the past two years. Each of the 94 federal district courts sets its own excuse policies, so contact the court named on your summons.
Who can serve: the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia
In England and Wales, you can be called if you are aged between 18 and 75 on the day you start, you are registered to vote, and you have lived in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for at least five years since the age of 13. Service usually lasts up to ten working days, usually 10am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Ignoring a summons is a criminal offence and can lead to a fine of up to £1,000. Jurors are not paid a salary, but they can claim travel, food and drink, and loss of earnings up to daily limits. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own systems.
In Canada, any Canadian citizen over the age of 18 can be considered, and jurors must generally have lived in their province for at least a year. A Canadian jury in a criminal trial is made up of 12 citizens from the province or territory where the court sits. People in certain jobs, such as lawyers and police officers, generally cannot serve. In Australia the rules are set by each state: in New South Wales you must be an Australian citizen or an eligible British subject, aged 18 or older, enrolled on the electoral roll and living in the state, while Western Australia draws its jurors from people aged 18 to 74 on the electoral roll.
What happens on the day
The summons tells you the date, the time and the courthouse. Arrive on time, bring the summons and photo identification, and expect security screening at the entrance, much like at an airport. You will wait in a jury assembly room while court staff explain the process. Much of jury service is waiting, so bring a book.
When a trial needs a jury, a group of potential jurors is taken into the courtroom. The judge introduces the case and explains what will happen next. Then comes voir dire: the judge and the lawyers ask the potential jurors questions, some general and some about the specific case, to find out whether they can decide it fairly. You may be asked whether you know anyone involved or whether something in your own life would make it hard to be impartial. Answer honestly. This is not a test you can fail; it is how the court builds a fair jury.
Based on the answers, some people are excused. Lawyers can challenge a juror for cause, meaning they give a reason why that person cannot be fair, and each side also has a limited number of peremptory challenges, which let them remove a juror without giving a reason. There is one firm limit: peremptory challenges cannot be used to exclude jurors because of their race, a rule the Supreme Court established in Batson v. Kentucky in 1986. Once the required number is seated, the jury is sworn in and the trial begins. If you are not selected, you may be called for another trial, or sent home.
Trial juries and grand juries
There are two different kinds of jury in the United States. A trial jury, also called a petit jury, hears evidence during a trial and returns a verdict. A federal criminal trial uses 12 jurors and the verdict must be unanimous. A federal civil trial uses at least six and no more than 12 jurors. Most trials last three to four days, although complex cases can run for weeks.
A grand jury does not decide guilt or innocence. It hears evidence presented by a prosecutor, in secret, and decides whether there is enough evidence to formally charge someone with a crime. A federal grand jury has 16 to 23 members, and at least 12 must agree before an indictment can be returned. Grand jury service is a much longer commitment: a regular federal grand jury can serve for up to 18 months, usually meeting a few days a month.
Pay, your job and getting out of it
Jurors are paid, but the amounts are modest and vary widely. Federal jurors in the United States receive $50 per day, plus mileage, and if a trial runs longer than ten days the judge can raise the rate to $60 per day for each day beyond the tenth. Grand jurors become eligible for the same higher rate after 45 days of service. State courts pay less: most pay somewhere around $15 to $25 a day. In England and Wales there is no daily salary, but jurors can claim travel, food and drink, and loss of earnings up to set daily limits.
Federal law bars employers from firing or punishing permanent employees for serving on a federal jury. You can usually ask for a deferral if the summons clashes with a holiday, an exam or a work deadline, or ask to be excused for a serious medical condition or full-time caring. The court decides, and the request must be made in the way the summons describes, usually in writing and before the date on the summons. Simply not turning up is the worst option: in the federal system it can lead to a fine of up to $1,000, up to three days in prison, community service, or a combination of those.
Common questions
Can I get out of jury duty because I do not want to do it? Not wanting to serve is not, on its own, a reason to be excused. Courts expect you to attend unless you have a genuine reason, such as illness or caring duties.
What if I know something about the case? Say so during voir dire. The judge and the lawyers need to know so they can decide whether you can still be fair.
Can I talk about the trial? While a trial is running, you must not discuss it with anyone, including family or on social media, and you must not look up anything about the case online. Once the trial is over and you have been discharged, the restrictions lift.
The bottom line
Jury duty is inconvenient, sometimes boring, and occasionally long. It is also the one moment in the justice system when ordinary people, not judges or lawyers, decide the outcome. Courts choose jurors at random, check they can be fair, and trust them with a decision that can change a person’s life. Most people who are called are never seated, and those who are usually serve for a few days. If your name comes up, answer the summons and turn up on the day. For the wider court system, our guide to how Supreme Court rulings work explains the institution at the top of the American system, and our guide to how to check voter registration and mail-in ballots covers the voter lists from which American jurors are drawn.
Sources verified 14 Nov 2026: United States Courts — Juror Selection Process — random selection from voter lists; qualification questionnaire within 10 days; voir dire; GOV.UK — Jury service — England and Wales: aged 18 to 75, registered to vote, five years’ residence since age 13; service usually up to 10 working days; fine of up to £1,000; federal figures (US citizen, 18 or older, one year in the district, English language, felony rules, military and fire/police exemptions, $50 a day rising to $60, fine of up to $1,000, grand jury 16 to 23 members, up to 18 months, 12 votes to indict, 12 jurors for a federal criminal trial, civil trials 6 to 12) as confirmed in checked sources today; Canada and Australia rules (Canadian citizen 18 or older, 12-person criminal juries; New South Wales 18 or older, on the electoral roll; Western Australia 18 to 74) as confirmed in checked sources today; Batson v. Kentucky (1986) as confirmed in checked sources today. No figure was taken from memory.