Eleven Crown Court trials in just ten days!
That’s what happened at Kent Law School on its Mock Trial Advocacy module in the Autumn term. Over forty undergraduate law students took on the challenge to represent the prosecution or defence in simulated mock trials.
Kent Law School, one of the few providing this opportunity in the country, give undergraduates training opportunities in witness handling and narrative, followed by full simulated Crown Court trial. The module, part of the law school’s Lawyering Skills programme, is unique as a true collaboration with the Kent legal community.
Witness and judge roles are kindly staged by local legal professionals, this year saw Resident judges from both Maidstone and Canterbury Crown Courts take part along with solicitors and local Magistrates, and for the first time, a number of Kent Police Officers took on different roles. DCI Nick Finnis, Head of Criminal Justice at Kent Police said, ‘What a pleasure to be invited to take part in the mock trials. The students were so impressive and Darren Weir did an amazing job planning and orchestrating. Also grateful for the opportunity for Kent Police Officers to attend and get experience of Crown Court trials.’
Now in its fourth year, the mock trials threw a curveball for students, having one of the witnesses give evidence via TV link (a result of a ‘special measures’ application) to provide a further layer of realism. Louise Duckett, Vice President of the Kent Law Society who played the vulnerable witness said, ‘An amazing effort to give KLS students such an insight into advocacy, well done!’
Congratulations go to the four highest scoring students, Raphael Hardy, Ross McNally, Miruna Mureseanu and Shanelle Shim, who perform one final mock trial on 1 March 2023. The best advocate will then be crowned the winner of the Kent Law School – Tuckers Solicitors Mock Trial Advocacy award and win an array of prizes including work experience with one of the country’s leading criminal defence firms.
Darren Weir, Director of Lawyering Skills and lead on Mock Trials said, ‘My huge thanks to Tuckers Solicitors for sponsoring the MTA Award. I am also very grateful to all those professionals who gave up their time to perform in our mock trial scenarios. I would not be able to run this module without them. What with our students who sit as jurors and help with the running of the court as well as my academic colleagues and visiting professionals who help with the training, it was fantastic to see around 300 people involved with our KLS mock trials this year.’
Mock Trial Advocacy is one of Kent Law School’s Co-Curricular modules and law students can apply to act as advocates during their 2nd or 3rd stage of studies. All KLS students can get involved, playing witnesses or sitting as jury members, all of which earn them ‘Employability Points’, rewarding students active engagement with exclusive internships, work placements, training and more.