Legal lessons: Explaining the courts system to students Course will enable students to hold mock trials, writes Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Editor
A NUMBER of school students from schools who helped develop a new pack for use in schools on how the law and courts work were present when it was launched by the Courts Service earlier this month. Called Let's Look at the Law, the pack contains posters, a booklet and a DVD for use in Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) classes and in transition year. It can also be used by youth groups.
The pack contains 12 lessons with diagrams, questionnaires and role-playing exercises, along with step-by-step lesson plans and supplementary information for teachers. When they have completed the module, students will have acquired knowledge enabling them to run a mock trial. A recent final of the annual mock trial competition for schools is featured in the DVD.
Among the topics covered in the pack are: who's who in the courtroom, and the roles they perform; the difference between civil and criminal law; the structure of the courts, from the District to the Supreme Courts; the running order of a trial; and examining a witness, including questions that can and cannot be asked.
The pack was developed by Teresa Brophy and Helen Priestley of the Courts Service, along with Conor Harrison, CSPE coordinator of the Department of Education. It was then piloted in a number of schools, and the feedback from the students and teachers was incorporated into the final version.
Presenting the pack to the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Murray, said: "The law is not something that simply happens in a courtroom, in isolated and individual cases. The law provides for and regulates so many things - from the water we drink, the transport we use, to more substantial matters such as the protection of the environment and consumers' rights - which are often taken for granted.
"Knowledge of the legal system will help students to develop their identity as citizens and gain greater understanding of the democracy in which we live. It will also prove to be a considerable asset when students progress, be that through further education or into the workforce. Indeed, it might be the spark that encourages students to pursue a career in the legal profession."
Ms Hanafin recalled that she was a former teacher and transition year co-ordinator, and in that capacity had often brought groups of students to the Four Courts to watch trials. She stressed the importance of the rule of law as the basis of democracy, and pointed out that the judiciary was an arm of government.
Helen Priestley said that courts all over the country, and not just the Four Courts, could be visited by school students interested in seeing how the law worked in practice, and urged them to do so.
The pack is available to teachers and schools from the Information Office of the Courts Service at Phoenix House, Smithfield, Dublin 7.
" Knowledge of the legal system will help students to develop their identity as citizens