The Faulty of Advocates welcomed pupils from eight local secondary schools to Edinburgh Sheriff Court to take part in a mock trial.
The annual Edinburgh Schools MiniTrials is a scheme which promotes legal education in schools, and the trial dealt with offences relating to assaults and drugs.
Lord Mulholland, Chair of the MiniTrials Steering Group, said: “The purpose of the MiniTrials initiative is to make the legal system more accessible and hopefully inspire pupils from all backgrounds to consider a career in law. The success of this project in Edinburgh is something we are keen to replicate in other towns and cities across the country.”
The pupils were given the chance to take part in a mock trial to learn first hand how the legal system works. They presented evidence and a case which is aimed at building confidence by improving critical thinking and public speaking.
Young people from S5 and S6 classes at Boroughmuir High School, Balerno High School, Firrhill High School, Holyrood High School, Leith Academy, St Augustine’s RC High School, St Thomas of Aquin’s, and Tynecastle High School all took part.
Advocate Micheal Upton, Faculty’s MiniTrials Coordinator said: “The annual Edinburgh schools’ event was as popular as ever with the pupils. The MiniTrials Group is hugely grateful to all of the advocates, solicitors, teachers, court staff, and our chairman, Lord Mulholland, who gave their time to make it happen – and especially to advocates Safeena Rashid, Paul Harvey, and Mark O’Reilly for so judiciously presiding as the “Sheriffs”.
“Any lawyer who’d like to volunteer for a couple of hours at future events can be sure to enjoy encountering the enthusiasm that the young people always bring to learning how to enact a criminal trial using the MiniTrials materials. If you are interested, do by all means contact us at [email protected].”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
Like this:
Like Loading…
Related