The Toronto Catholic District School Board will hold its Mock Trial Competition at Osgoode Hall Law School today. The following week on May 19, the Catholic Inter-Board Competition will be held at Osgoode.
Right: Osgoode Hall Law School
A number of schools will be participating in each event, with approximately 12 teams of six students each competing on each day. Each team will play a minimum of two games (one as the Crown, one as the defence). The students will then participate in semi-final and final rounds.
Here are some of the top reasons for participating in the event listed by the Toronto Catholic District School Board in its invitation to students and schools.
- It provides a fun and interesting way to teach and learn law by doing.
- The competition sets high standards for students in manners, dress and decorum.
- Students develop an appreciation of the Canadian legal system.
- Participants learn the skills of questioning, critical thinking, decision-making, research, oral advocacy, rational argument and cooperative learning.
- The mock trial is fair – using lawyers as judges who are knowledgeable and unbiased; students may not enter more than one year; rules of procedure and admissibility are clear and applied.
- The competition is not “win at all costs” event, the stress is on style, not on the trial outcomes.
For more information on the law case used for the trials, visit the 2004 Mock Trial Tournament Guide.