Legal Studies Incursion

You Be The Judge

Covid-safe protocols continue to prevent Victorian Courts from allowing school groups to observe court proceedings, so when the Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria offered a free online seminar incursion on sentencing practices, we decided to sign up our students to see what they had to offer.

We were the only VCE class participating, with the rest of the participants coming from a range of backgrounds including mature age students at the beginning of their law degrees and people who work in correctional facilities as advocates for people serving prison terms. Some of their contributions to discussions provided our own students with the opportunity to consider the many perspectives that need to be considered when determining the sentence of a criminal offender.

We examined a culpable driving case study, focusing on the facts surrounding the fatal collision between a car and a cyclist, then the elements of the crime that had to be proven by the prosecution before the jury retired to consider the verdict. To determine a suitable sentence, the students had to consider the mitigating and aggravating factors that may impact on the judge’s decision on the total sentence. 

This was the rich learning that connects to the Year 11 Legal Studies course in our current area of study on Sanctions, and to hear people who are experts in their field debate the severity of the sentence was a unique learning experience for our budding legal students.

Tanya Moran

Leader of Humanities