Legal Studies News

These last 2 weeks saw our Year 11 and Year 12 Legal Studies classes pay a visit to the Griffith Court House plus compete in Round 3 of the NSW Mock Trial Competition.

Our local Local Court  on sitting days is like peak-hour city traffic - 81 matters were dealt with on the day year 11 were there! From the public gallery, students were able to witness cases covering common assault, sexual assault, driving and drug offences, harassing phone calls, AVOs, resisting arrest, the altering of bail conditions and sentencing. At the morning tea break, Griffith Police Prosecutor Jason Dunn spoke to Year 11 and we discovered many salient points to note. For example, a low level drink driving charge can result in refusal of entry to the United States. The Year 12s were lucky enough to hear local Solicitor, David Davidge and a preeminent Sydney Barrister, John Brogan as they took us on a guided tour of the District Court, followed by a brief observation of an actual case. The District Court is reserved for serious matters such as murder and child sexual assault and became the location for Australia’s first ever televised Royal Commission in 1995. Seeing our Legal Studies textbook come to life in front of us was both instructive and confronting! Our thanks go to Virginia, the Court’s Registrar, Jason, David and John for providing us with an insider's take on how the wheels of justice turn.

The Mock Trial was a challenging experience as all our Year 11 participants were there for the first time, against a seasoned and undefeated Scots School Albury. Furthermore we had to conduct the trial via video link as the Lockhart Court House was cancelled at late notice. Scots represented the plaintiff, suing our client, Westfield Shopping Centre, following a slip and fall from a hapless popstar in front of our coffee shop! Unfortunately we could not convince the 2 magistrates that we had sufficiently exercised our duty of care and we were found guilty as charged. The loss from this trial goes with our previous win by forfeit against St Paul’s Walla Walla. This leaves the final round of the round-robin section as a do-or-die match in 2 weeks against Riverina Anglican College, looking to be held at Narrandera Court House. Congratulations to Samuel MacRae, Matthew Salvestro, Angela Falcon, April Sargent, Ethan Griffiths and Stephanie Bertoldo for a brave attempt and calling on volunteers for Mock Trial 4: to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Riverina Anglican College did burn a house to the ground!!