You Be The Judge
Luton County Court welcomed 20 students from Challney Boys and Putteridge High Schools to take part in a mock trial in an actual courtroom. Both schools were provided with the details of a civil brief for damages against a company alleging that an employee slipped on some oil resulting in injury. The students were allocated their roles: barrister, solicitor, claimant, defendant, witness and panel of judges.
Putteridge High School were the claimants and Challney Boys were the defendants. With the support of the court employees the students embarked on a mock trial using statements, witnesses, evidence, a diagram and cross examination using all the knowledge and help provided by a County Court Judge and Solicitor at the pre-brief two weeks earlier. The panel of judges deliberated, discussed and came to the conclusion of a 50–50 allocation of blame but awarding compensation to the claimant. This was an excellent verdict as the County Court Judge presiding over the mock trial confirmed that this would have also been his decision via a slightly different judgement.
The students and tutors all enjoyed the experience and agreed the day was very beneficial to their learning. A question and answer session with the judge, solicitor and court staff proved very interesting and lively. Each student was presented with a certificate before leaving.
November 2006
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