Year 11 Legal Studies

On 3rd August 2023, Ms Mattsson’s Year 11 Legal Studies class went on an excursion to the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court, in Highett.

I can speak for everyone when I say it was quite an eye opening experience. We gained an insight into how common summary crimes such as theft and traffic offences were dealt with by the Magistrate such as issuing fines.

 As it was the Magistrates Court, we were limited by not observing the most serious crimes such as murder trials, however, the cases we did see showed us how serious these small matters can become in our community.

 We also had insight into how the Magistrates’ have to think on their feet to ensure their sentencing is fair, along with the sentence imposed following the law.

We had the honour and privilege to talk directly with a range of key personnel such as the Magistrate, Police Prosecutor, an associate and a clerk of courts from the Mentions Court rooms. While they were all extremely accommodating explaining their role in the court, we were conscious that this was their place of work. 

The Police Prosecutor was very generous with her time as she shared with us her experiences. She was very entertaining, as she told us about her experience as both a police officer and a prosecutor on behalf of the police. She outlined her career pathway to us, and how some of these decisions can be unexpected. We learnt about some of her more challenging and emotional cases along with some of her more unusual and funnier cases. 

This excursion really was an eye opener to us all and helped us to see just how the justice system works in order to create social cohesion in the community.

Anika Krongold

Year 11