Trial simulation offers participants an understanding of the legal procedures based on
experience.
The concept of trial simulation, as a mechanism for understanding the process of solving
disputes in a court of law, must be well delivered to the pupils. The counsellor must
explain them how a conflict is brought before justice (e.g. in a criminal case the roles of
police, investigation officer, prosecutor, and judge will be explained).
Pupils should also understand:
- the roles of all other actors: lawyers, witnesses, and the two parties;
- the content of the debates, what every person involved in the process must
prove, the number and consistency of the necessary evidence.
In a trial simulation it is attempted to involve as many participants as possible, the whole
activity only being to imitate what goes on in a courtroom. Since the aim is to involve
various participants, unlike real cases, the trial simulation allows the existence of several
judges, prosecutors, and lawyers. This version of the method can be used to instruct law
students, pupils, the uninitiated, and requires a minimum of four hours: three to inform
the participants on the legal procedure, evidence, relevant facts, the applicable law and
procedural law, and one hour for the trial itself. A single day may therefore be sufficient,
with the instruction in the morning and the trial in the afternoon. Or alternatively, six
lessons of 40 minutes each.
Generally, criminal cases are preferred because the preliminaries of the trial can be
carried out before the trial begins, and the questions regarding the crime and its impact on
society lead to challenging discussions.
b. The results of a trial simulation
Throughout the trial simulation pupils learn how to analyse facts, identify relevant laws
for the case, acquire skills of critical thinking, enrich their vocabulary and thinking,
develop listening skills, question asking skills, and oral presentation of a problem. They
also learn how to develop an argument from a legal point of view, prepare and organize
the necessary materials. By performing and observing the roles of people involved in a
trial (lawyers, witnesses, and clients), pupils get the inside perspective on the functioning
of a court of law.
At the end of the trial simulation, pupils will be able to:
- define in personal terms what the trial simulation is;
- describe the different trial simulation types;
- explain the stages of an investigation taking place before the trial;
- identify the stages of trial simulation;