Assessment
2 – Court Visit & Report
Length: 2000 words
Due Date:
End of Week 9
Weighting:30%
Aim
The aim of the court report is to get
you out of the classroom and into the courtroom to see how the law works in
practice! We would like you to visit a court to observe proceedings for a
couple of hours and then write a report on your visit.
Planning
your court visit
It is
important to have an understanding of the court system before you embark on
your visit. Therefore, please complete the required reading for Week 1 and 2
before visiting a court.
Your best chance of seeing a court
case from beginning to end will be in the Local Court or District Court. Please
be aware that there is no certainty that the magistrate or judge will reach a
decision while you are in court and we do not expect you to stay until a
decision is reached. A couple of hours observing proceedings should be
sufficient to gain enough understanding of the matter to write your Report.
If
you find yourself in the middle of a lengthy trial, you may find it more
interesting to visit another court. Also, if you find yourself in a list court
where matters are quickly mentioned, it may be more useful to move to another
court as you may not gather sufficient information to complete the required
Report.
Although you may wish to visit court
with other students, you must submit your own written work.
For locations of Local Courts, please refer to the following link:
http://www.localcourt.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/localcourts/court_locations.html
District
Court: Sydney
Downing Centre 143-147 Liverpool Street
(corner of Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets, above Museum Station)
The District Court also sits at 225 Macquarie Street and
in Parramatta, Liverpool and Penrith.
Supreme Court
Law Courts Building, Queens Square
(Phillip Street, near University of Sydney Law School). You may be interested
in hearing Bail Applications in the Supreme Court (ask the front desk of the
Supreme Court for directions)
Visiting the Court
There is no need to dress formally
when you attend court, but you should dress neatly and you should remember that
smoking, drinking and eating are not permitted in court. Nor is it permissible
to take any type of electronic recording device into a courtroom.
When you arrive at the court you may
wish to introduce yourself to a court officer.
Explain that you are a student and that you have the task of observing
and reporting on a court case. You should ask the Court Officer whether
the taking of notes is permitted. The Court Officer may also be helpful in
providing information concerning the case being heard.
As you enter and leave the courtroom
while the court is in session, you should stop, face the bench and bow. When the magistrate or judge enters and
leaves the courtroom, you should stand up.
The magistrate or judge will then bow to those present in the
courtroom. It is a mark of respect by
those present to bow back.
The structure of your report
A) Background
details
State precisely:
·
name
of the court visited
·
date
of the visit
·
name
of the case
·
name
of presiding judge or magistrate
·
subject
matter of the case, and whether it was a civil or criminal matter
·
whether
the parties were represented and by whom- private solicitors or barristers, the
DPP or Legal Aid.
These facts can be stated in point
form. These background details are necessary so that the reader of your report
can build up an accurate picture of the setting about which you are
reporting. Your reader will be able to
understand the rest of your report better if they begin with a clear picture of
the setting. Some details about the
cases being heard will be posted on a notice board in the court foyer or, as
stated previously, you can often find out such information from the Court
Officer.
B) The court
proceedings
This section is to be the body of the
Report. We ask that you discuss your interpretation of the roles that
participants were playing in the courtroom, the kinds of interactions between
them, the evidence and the way in which it was presented. It is important to
discuss the role of the judge or magistrate, lawyers and parties to the
proceedings and any others worth commenting on in some detail. These details
can include the extent the presiding officer played an active part, the degree
of formality or informality in the proceedings, the degree of hostility or
otherwise between the participants, some details of the evidence and the way in
which evidence was presented.
If a final decision was reached in the
case, then explain the outcome and any reasons given for the decision. As
previously explained, not all cases will come to a conclusion in the time you
have available to observe proceedings. In these cases, from what you have
observed, what do you think will be the likely conclusion of the case? In
discussing the outcome or likely outcome of the case, comment on whether you
agree with the decision or what you think may be the decision. Give reasons why
you agree or disagree.
Comment on the court
process and how it was similar or different from your expectations. Does the
court process you observed and the outcome of the case (if you were present
when the case came to a conclusion) accord with your notions of “justice”?
Explain your views.
Other questions you should
answer are as follows:
·
What
was the most interesting part of your visit? Why?
·
Is
there anything about what you observed that would cause you to want to settle a
case or to pursue it fully to trial? What and why?
·
What
was your overall impression of your Court visit and what did you learn from
your visit?
C) The Law
Parties bringing cases to
court argue that there has been a breach of the law. In the case you observed,
name a statute or case that was relied on or relates to your case. Cite the
case or statute and give brief details about how it relates to your case. If
you were unable to pick up any mention of a case or statute when you were
observing proceedings, state this and attempt to find a case or statue that you
think is relevant to your case. Justify why you think the case or statue is
relevant.
