Magistrates visit Oak Class
On Wednesday 29th June Oak Class were visited by two magistrates. They came in and spoke to us about what it is they do, why it is important and how the court process works.
They introduced themselves, and then showed us an interactive presentation, which we learnt various facts from. The two magistrates asked us many questions and we contributed our answers and opinions. They told us the different types of courts (youth court, adult court, family court and crown court) depending on the ‘crime’ committed the accused would go to the different courts and be tried by specially trained magistrates. In this presentation, they also told us the conditions of becoming a magistrate for example, magistrates have to be over the age of eighteen and under the age of seventy, they also have to have no criminal record or be involved in crime in any other way eg: a policeman.
We then acted out the process of court, many of us had particular lines and roles to play within the court, but the rest of us were the public and press, sitting at the back. We listened to the case, the prosecution, the defendant and the witnesses. We then had to decide our verdict – based on the facts raised during the process of our court – in groups of three (that was the number of magistrates at each court).
Some of the many interesting facts that we learnt were:
We learnt that evidence is collected by the crown prosecution as well as the police, plus witnesses.
We also learnt that minor crimes were dealt with at the adult court (shoplifting) and bigger crimes such as murder are tried at the crown court.
Overall, it was a very interesting visit which many of us have learnt lots from.
Review by Olivia Year 6
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