Supreme Court Excursion

Year 11 Legal Studies

On 14th March, the Year 11 Legal Studies class visited the Supreme Court, one of the highest courts in Victoria. This court hears the most serious indictable offences in the state and deals with cases in areas of homicide and terrorism alongside others.

When we arrived, we were introduced to two volunteers from the Supreme Court’s education team and taken to a courtroom to undertake a mock trial. Here we were allocated different roles in a fictitious homicide case, including the judge, solicitors and jury, whose responsibilities in trials were then outlined to us. The room had been built in 1852 and was sophisticated and formal, having remained unchanged since its completion.

After finishing our mock trial, we were taken to Courtroom 1 to observe a child homicide case. Sitting in the public gallery, we were able to see the entire courtroom and observe the reviewing of evidence in the first hearing, also known as the ‘bashing’. It was difficult to comprehend the dialogue exchanged between the expert witness, barristers and the judge due to the design of the courtroom, which caused the sound to echo and reverberate.

After viewing the case, we explored the Supreme Court Library, where regal paintings of judges decorated the walls. A portrait of the first female judge of the Supreme Court was distinguishable from the others. Our guides told us about the gender imbalance within the legal system, informing us that female law graduates now outnumber their male counterparts. Overall, it was crucial to see the application of the skills and knowledge of the legal system that we had been building in class in real life situations.

Tia Storch and Sophie Rowsell

Year 11