I have just completed jury service and reflected on how receiving a summons of this kind could impact paruresis sufferers. When I received my jury summons my first thought was about toilets and I am sure many would think the same way. If I had been at a very low point, I think I would have sought a medical exemption as I would have found the situation too difficult to manage. All the things that tend to cause us anxiety come together as one in the jury service environment, coupled with the stress of the trial itself.

County courts are busy places so a large group of jurors or potential jurors assemble in a large seating area and you can only access the toilets within the jury area. The toilet area was small with a limited number of open style cubicles which were frequently occupied with others waiting to use them before their cases are called. Hence there are the familiar triggers of lack of privacy, proximity and time pressure. There was an accessible toilet but I do not know whether it was available for general use.

You are told you cannot leave the court once it is in session so you do need to be able to use a toilet before the trial starts. Once the jury retires to consider the verdict, the twelve members are locked in a room only to be released at lunchtime or the end of the day. There are male and female toilets for each retiring room, closed off from the meeting. If you use the toilet here, no other juror will leave the session until you return so this is an opportunity for some privacy. In Leicester Crown court, these were closed cubicles.

If any of our members are called for jury service, I hope that having some idea of what to expect might be helpful - forewarned is forearmed. As you are given plenty of notice prior to the start date of your jury service, I would recommend contacting the court and asking to visit the premises and the toilet facilities beforehand. If this is for medical reasons, I think it unlikely it would be questioned too closely.