Jurors demand payment
Jurors working with the Court Management Services are complaining that they are not being paid for their services.
One juror told THE STAR that she has been working since March, and her service will continue into this month.
She says she spends at least six hours at the court daily, which causes her to miss work, and her workplace is not paying her for the time she's absent.
"Some workplaces, they actually pay you for the time, but mine does not. So for the length of time I'm here, I won't be paid," she said
She explained that only persons who get to act on juries during a case get paid. Although she spends most of her days at court, she's yet to be chosen for one.
"And when I'm here, if you're not empanelled, you don't get paid. So we'll have a set of jurors who come in, and then they'd tell them to come back and you miss all those days at work," she said. "It's really inconvenient for me, especially because for this whole month I won't be paid at my job."
In addition, she said that she has to find lunch money and transportation for every day that she's at court.
She said that she's not the only one who has these concerns and that some of the aggrieved jurors have complained to the relevant persons.
"We brought the concern to them, they said we should get something, but they didn't exactly say what or when so it might take some time," she said.
However, Michelle Thomas, acting senior public relations officer at the Court Management Services, told THE STAR that allowance is only paid for the days the juror sits during the trial.
"Jurors are paid an allowance of $2,000 for each day of service. The increase from $500 took effect in 2015 with the approval of the Jury (Jurors' Expenses in Criminal Cases) Regulations, 2015 and the Jury (Jurors' Expenses in Civil Cases) Regulations, 2015," she said. "There is no separate travel and lunch allowance."