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FAITH WISDOM
INTEGRITY COMPASSION |
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Prospective : Co-Curricular : Other Activities
Chess | Crusaders | Debating | Duke of Edinburgh | Grammarian | Mock Trial | Public Speaking | Robotics | Science Club | Student Council
Contact List - Mock Trial
The Mock Trial Competition, conducted by the Law Society and partly funded by the Law Foundation of NSW, is a practical means of introducing students in Y10-11 to the law. The Law Society provides the teams (approximately 300) with coaches and magistrates, together with a set of case materials and competition manual.
The first four rounds of the competition are run on a regional round robin basis from February to late May. Trials are on a home-and-away basis in each of the ten regions, usually about a month apart. The top 64 scoring teams across NSW and the ACT then compete on a knockout basis until two schools are left to meet for the state grand final in early December.
Knox students from Y10-11 commence training in Term 4 of the year before the competition starts in Term 1. Teams are small, consisting of two barristers, two witnesses, a solicitor and court official. The team presents, in a trial format, the case for the prosecution or defence as appropriate. Cases are confined to simple criminal and civil matters heard in the Local or District Court and Knox students are coached by a practising barrister.
A call for participants is placed on the "Urgent" noticeboard and in the Knoxonian and all who want to develop oral skills are welcome to come to the initial training. Students do not need to have studied commerce, business or legal studies. What is required are strong performers who can work well in a team and improvise according to what evolves in the courtroom as the case proceeds.
Training sessions are organised around the work commitments of the coaches who are barristers themselves. A training session is often scheduled after other sporting commitments, generally from around 5.30pm and can take one to two hours. The safety of the team with regard to travelling home late is paramount and commitments to family and others are always considered. There are usually several meetings before a trial.
Trials are lengthy - three hours generally - and the room in which the trial is held is considered a "Moot Court" with all the official standing of a real court. Trials will often start around 5.00-6.00pm, according to the needs of the magistrate, all of whom are barristers.
Y10 students can also be involved in a SCRAM competition where they work in small teams of eight to ten and mediate a dispute from a given scenario and are adjudicated by a professional legal mediator. It requires role-playing skills and excellent people skills and is highly competitive.
For more information, visit www.lawsociety.com.au - Community Legal Information/Mock Trial Competition.
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