Bar National Mock Trial Competition 2010/11
The Bar National Mock Trial Competition gives young people an exciting and innovative insight into the workings of the legal system. Now in its 20th successful year, it involves over 2,000 students, 300 barristers/advocates and 90 judges from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Applications for the 2010/11 competition are now closed.
The dates of the 2010-11 Regional Heats can be found by clicking on the link ' Regional Heat dates 2010-11' below:
Regional Heats for the 2010-11 BMT Competition
Regional Heat Dates 2010-11 (PDF)
Click here to enter
Who can enter?
The competition is open to all non-fee paying 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 2010). Each school enters a team of 15 students (16 in Scotland) and can also nominate a court reporter and press officer.
Fees
It costs £150 to enter the competition. £50 is the entry fee and £100 is a deposit that will be refunded after participation. If you withdraw from the competition after September 10th 2010 we will not return the £100 deposit. Schools that withdraw before this date will receive their £100 deposit back but not their £50 entry fee. If you are allocated as a reserve team and do not get placed, we will refund £150. Please see the terms and conditions for more information about entry fees and deposits. When we have received your application, you will receive a confirmation email requesting a cheque for £150 made payable to ‘Citizenship Foundation’. Your entry will not be processed until we have received payment.
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.
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.
Timescale
Applications for the 2010/11 competition will be available from May 2010 with a deadline for submissions of 10th June 2010. Schools will be notified of their place (or reserve place) and sent their guides and cases by the end of June/beginning of July 2010. Barristers/advocates will be allocated to schools (where possible) in September/October 2010. Schools will attend a Crown Court to compete in a regional heat in November/December 2010. The 16 winners of the regional reats will participate in the national final in March 2011, which will take place in Belfast. This year, we will be able to offer some financial assistance for travel and accommodation to schools participating in the national final.
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 competition.
Court Reporter Competition
Winning entry 09-10 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. 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 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 help organise heats and 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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