Surrey Magistrates Mock Trial Competition!
Today 14 of Glenthorne's Year 9 students took part in an exciting Mock Trial Heat in Guildford, UK.
In late October myself and the students were given a case, we then had to work out which students would be in what roles. We had two prosecution lawyers, two defence lawyers, four witnesses, an usher, three magistrates, a legal advisor and a court artist.
All of the schools in our Heat were given the same case.
Once we had this established witnesses needed to immerse themselves in their roles by getting to know their witnesses statements (which were provided to us) inside and out.
Lawyers were tasked with working out scripts that they needed to memorise however it's not just memorising scripts that's important because on the day of the actual Heat, our students would be cross-examining students from other schools. Therefore there is no way they can know how those students will react to the line of questioning. Lawyers must therefore be able to think on their feet and react appropriately to the witnesses' responses.
In addition, our witnesses must be prepared for any line of questioning they can think of due to the fact that they in turn will be cross-examined by lawyers from another school. This is a huge challenge and requires very quick thinking on the part of the witnesses.
Our Legal Advisor was required to remember and recount key aspects of UK law and relay them to the Magistrates during the trial. Magistrates must take meticulous notes throughout, question witnesses themselves and deliberate for 20 minutes on the case.
Our Usher's role is vital in keeping the courtroom moving swiftly and efficiently, ensuring witnesses know where they are supposed to be and to alert the court to any changes and deal with disruptions.
In addition, all of our speakers were under strict time limits, lawyers were not to go over 4.5 minutes for their cross examinations or opening and closing speeches. Legal Advisors and witnesses also had to abide by time limits.
We also had to ensure that we did not mixup genders as when we competed against the other schools, the defendants and witnesses were of different genders compared to when we rehearsed with just our team.
On top of this, to gain top marks our students were not allowed to read from a script, which we did not.
To practice, the students did 14 full rehearsals in the Library, each one taking an hour to complete. After each rehearsal we all gave each other feedback and encouragement.
In total I estimate we spent 28 hours in the Library working on this case, developing a timeline, debating important points and building a case for both sides.
On the Friday before the big Heat, I surprised the team with pizzas in the Library to congratulate them on how hard they had worked. We then immediately did another rehearsal from 2-3:30 pm on the Friday and then we rehearsed again on the mini bus on the way to Guildford.
On the day of the Heat we competed in two rounds. In the first round our Prosecution Lawyers, our Legal Advisor and our Prosecution Witnesses were competing against Ashcombe School in Dorking.
The Heat is scored by a point system, points are awarded for not reading from a script, thinking on your feet and addressing the court properly.
Getting a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty" does not mean your team wins that round. Your Prosecution team could get a verdict of guilty and still have made enough mistakes to lose to the Defence team.
In the first round our Prosecution team did receive a verdict of "Guilty" which we were very happy with yet the judges do not reveal any points or winners until the very end.
In the second round we were up against Guildford County School. Our Defence Lawyers, Usher and Witnesses were up against their Prosecution team.
We go through the same case again in its entirety yet now we are looking for a "Not Guilty" verdict and to be consistent enough to score more points.
I was very pleased with how the team did, we were professional and dogged throughout both rounds.
We then had to wait 30 minutes to find out the scores. The students were extremely nervous and I was more nervous than I had ever been as I wanted them to be rewarded for the ridiculous amount of work they put into it.
Our hard work paid off as they were crowned the winners of the Heat!
We are now on the Regional Heat in May with a brand new case. It's going to be a hectic yet amazing time in the Library with more rehearsals, debating and pizza.
I am extremely proud of these students and their dedication to their roles, they are truly amazing ambassadors for the school and I can't wait to continue to work with them.
In late October myself and the students were given a case, we then had to work out which students would be in what roles. We had two prosecution lawyers, two defence lawyers, four witnesses, an usher, three magistrates, a legal advisor and a court artist.
All of the schools in our Heat were given the same case.
Once we had this established witnesses needed to immerse themselves in their roles by getting to know their witnesses statements (which were provided to us) inside and out.
Lawyers were tasked with working out scripts that they needed to memorise however it's not just memorising scripts that's important because on the day of the actual Heat, our students would be cross-examining students from other schools. Therefore there is no way they can know how those students will react to the line of questioning. Lawyers must therefore be able to think on their feet and react appropriately to the witnesses' responses.
In addition, our witnesses must be prepared for any line of questioning they can think of due to the fact that they in turn will be cross-examined by lawyers from another school. This is a huge challenge and requires very quick thinking on the part of the witnesses.
Our Legal Advisor was required to remember and recount key aspects of UK law and relay them to the Magistrates during the trial. Magistrates must take meticulous notes throughout, question witnesses themselves and deliberate for 20 minutes on the case.
Our Usher's role is vital in keeping the courtroom moving swiftly and efficiently, ensuring witnesses know where they are supposed to be and to alert the court to any changes and deal with disruptions.
In addition, all of our speakers were under strict time limits, lawyers were not to go over 4.5 minutes for their cross examinations or opening and closing speeches. Legal Advisors and witnesses also had to abide by time limits.
We also had to ensure that we did not mixup genders as when we competed against the other schools, the defendants and witnesses were of different genders compared to when we rehearsed with just our team.
On top of this, to gain top marks our students were not allowed to read from a script, which we did not.
To practice, the students did 14 full rehearsals in the Library, each one taking an hour to complete. After each rehearsal we all gave each other feedback and encouragement.
In total I estimate we spent 28 hours in the Library working on this case, developing a timeline, debating important points and building a case for both sides.
On the Friday before the big Heat, I surprised the team with pizzas in the Library to congratulate them on how hard they had worked. We then immediately did another rehearsal from 2-3:30 pm on the Friday and then we rehearsed again on the mini bus on the way to Guildford.
On the day of the Heat we competed in two rounds. In the first round our Prosecution Lawyers, our Legal Advisor and our Prosecution Witnesses were competing against Ashcombe School in Dorking.
The Heat is scored by a point system, points are awarded for not reading from a script, thinking on your feet and addressing the court properly.
Getting a verdict of "guilty" or "not guilty" does not mean your team wins that round. Your Prosecution team could get a verdict of guilty and still have made enough mistakes to lose to the Defence team.
In the first round our Prosecution team did receive a verdict of "Guilty" which we were very happy with yet the judges do not reveal any points or winners until the very end.
In the second round we were up against Guildford County School. Our Defence Lawyers, Usher and Witnesses were up against their Prosecution team.
We go through the same case again in its entirety yet now we are looking for a "Not Guilty" verdict and to be consistent enough to score more points.
I was very pleased with how the team did, we were professional and dogged throughout both rounds.
We then had to wait 30 minutes to find out the scores. The students were extremely nervous and I was more nervous than I had ever been as I wanted them to be rewarded for the ridiculous amount of work they put into it.
Our hard work paid off as they were crowned the winners of the Heat!
We are now on the Regional Heat in May with a brand new case. It's going to be a hectic yet amazing time in the Library with more rehearsals, debating and pizza.
I am extremely proud of these students and their dedication to their roles, they are truly amazing ambassadors for the school and I can't wait to continue to work with them.
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