On Thursday, 2 May, students representing RPCS hosted St Patrick’s College, Strathfield in Round 2 of the NSW Law Society Mock Trial competition. Despite the competition being open to both Year 10 and 11 students, this year our team is only comprised of enthusiastic Year 10 students. For some of these students it was their first time participating in a Mock Trial. Considering this they performed confidently and continued to garner a positive team spirit in a way that makes them wonderful representatives of our School. Abigail and John were excellent in their roles as prosecution witnesses. They had learned their scripts well and dealt superbly with cross-examination by the defence barristers. They were also well protected by our prosecuting barristers, Jared and Isabella, who made regular strategic objections on the grounds of harassing the witness. I hope they don’t use this objection at home against their parents when asked numerous times to clean their bedrooms or do their homework.
Both Jared and Isabella demonstrated their outstanding public speaking abilities to convey their arguments clearly. These arguments included sophisticated analysis of both statute and common law by picking apart key elements of the alleged crime and relevant precedents. The barristers were capably supported by Cindy who acted in the capacity of solicitor. Emily played an important role in assisting the Magistrates with the administrative aspects of the case.
I would again like to thank the students for their enthusiasm in preparing so well for the trial. Unfortunately, our team was unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt the guilt of the defendant and thus they were acquitted. St. Patrick’s were fairly judged by the Magistrates to be the best team on the day and our team showed great humility in defeat by the way they congratulated their opponent.
