Bar National Mock Trial Competition 2008/09
The 2008/09 application process is now open
Participating school? Please use the login panel above
Introduction
The Bar National Mock Trial Competition gives young people an exciting and innovative insight to the workings of the legal system. Now in its 18th successful year, it involves over 2,000 students, 200 barristers/advocates and 90 judges from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Who can enter?
The competition is open to all state secondary schools and FE colleges in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Students must be in Years 10-13 in England in Wales, Years 11-14 in Northern Ireland and S4-S6 in Scotland at the time of the Competition heats (November 2008). Each school enters a team of 13 students (14 in Scotland) and can also nominate a court reporter and press officer.
What's involved?
A team of students use carefully constructed witness statements to prepare the prosecution and defence of two specially written criminal cases. Students take on the roles of lawyers, witnesses, court staff and jurors and compete against other schools in a live format, with one team prosecuting and the other defending. Their performances are judged by Circuit Judges, Recorders (Sheriffs in Scotland) and senior barristers/advocates and take place in Crown Courts and Combined Courts across the UK.
At Regional Heats teams take part in three trials both prosecuting and defending one case and prosecuting or defending the other. The two teams with the highest scores go on to a fourth trial to decide the regional winning team that then goes on to compete in the National Final.
What help is available?
There is no need for students or teachers to have studied any law before taking part in the competition. Schools will receive a guide containing the rules, court procedures, information about the criminal justice system and the roles the students will be taking on. Two specially written cases will also be provided. A local barrister/advocate will be available, where possible, to help schools with their preparations, though this cannot be guaranteed. The project officer at the Citizenship Foundation will also be happy to answer any questions.
In addition there are downloadable resources and lesson plans available for all participating schools. These are accessed using the login panel above and the password provided to you by the Project Officer.
Reserves
If your chosen heat is oversubscribed, you may be allocated a reserve place. Reserve schools prepare for the competition and may attend the court on the day, but will only have the opportunity to compete if another school withdraws. We cannot predict when or if this will happen, but schools do drop out each year and reserve teams have enjoyed considerable success.
For example in the 2007/08 Competition the reserve schools won the Cardiff, Glasgow and Birmingham heats, with numerous other reserves taking part elsewhere also.
Where possible, reserve schools are given a secured place in the following year's competition provided that they apply before the deadline. In some of our most popular heats it may not be possible for all reserve teams to be placed in the competition the following year.
Reserve teams may wish to organise an internal Mock Trial within their school. This downloadable document contains an example case and guide on how to set up your own Mock Trial. See also the Schools' Guide for more information.
Timescale
Applications for the 2008/09 competition will be available from June 2008 with a deadline for submissions of 4th July 2008. Schools will be notified of their place (or reserve place) and sent their guides and cases by the end of July 2008. Barristers/advocates will be allocated to schools (where possible) in September/October 2008. On a Saturday in November 2008, schools will attend a Crown Court to compete in a Regional Heat. The 16 winners of the Regional Heats will represent their region at the National Final in March 2009.
Optional extras
Press Officer Competition
Alongside the main competition, each team can nominate a press officer to be responsible for developing a media strategy for local coverage of the team's entry. The winner at each Regional Heat will receive a prize and be entered into the national Press Officer Competitions.
Court Reporter Competition
Each participating competition team can also nominate a court reporter who will attend the Regional Heat. After watching one of the trials the court reporter will write a newspaper article to be judged on the day (often by local journalists). The winner at each Regional Heat will receive a prize and be entered into the National Court Reporter Competition.
Citizenship curriculum
Through active learning the competition provides a fun, exciting and innovative way of exploring the new provisions for Citizenship at Key Stage 4 by giving young people the opportunity to:
- gain an understanding of the legal and human rights and responsibilities underpinning society, and how they relate to them as citizens, including the role of the criminal and civil justice systems;
- understand the work of courts in making and shaping the law;
- develop research skills on topical moral and social issues;
- consider other people's experiences and be able to explain and express, explain and critically evaluate opinions that are not necessary their own;
- negotiate, make decisions and take part responsibly in school activities.
The volunteers
The competition relies very heavily on the work and assistance of Judges, barristers, advocates and court staff. Not only do they open their courts for the mock trials but also voluntarily contribute their time to organise local heats as well as assist schools with their preparations.
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The Bar National Mock Trial Competition is sponsored by the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales, the four Inns of Court, and the local Bar Circuits. In Scotland it is supported by the Faculty of Advocates, and in Northern Ireland by the Bar Council of Northern Ireland. | ||
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