Courtroom drama: AS Law trip to London!

17/05/2010

As no electrical equipment is permitted inside the courts, the identity of those who went remains a mystery!

AS Law students based at the Haywards Heath campus enjoyed a day in court, when their annual trip to the Law courts in London took place at the end of the spring term, with the first stop, the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand.

This amazing building houses the High Court and the Courts of Appeal. The students set off in the direction of the criminal appeal courts, and managed to see a variety of appeals, including several appeals which were a result of violent crimes. One case involved alleged child abuse where the child died, which provoked a dramatic reaction, whilst another of the appeals involved legal argument on sentencing for fraud - the latter didn't lead to nearly as much discussion afterwards!!
Another case involved a group of young men appealing against their conviction. This case caused a lot of discussion especially as this involved the controversial area of law of 'joint enterprise'. This is where if you are voluntarily present at a violent incident you can be charged with a criminal offence, including murder, even if you were not the perpetrator.

After lunch the group headed off to the Old Bailey. No electronic equipment is allowed, so they had to leave any they brought in the sandwich shop across the road for a small fee!! (Hence the reason there are no photos of the trip!). The Old Bailey is a popular venue with students and tourists alike, and as a result, they spent some time queuing in a very cold and drafty tunnel! Once again the cases mainly concerned violent crime and murder. There were a large number of family members attending and it was difficult to get in the courts at all, but once they did, the students had an excellent view of the proceedings. The group was only able to get a taster, as criminal trials can last many weeks.
Criminal trials bear little resemblance to how they are portrayed in films. In real life, they are often very slow which was something of a revelation in itself to many of the group!

On leaving the courts, the group retrieved their bags, and seemed to have gained one which contained an Iphone which was a bit worrying!!! However, they soon discovered this belonged to a journalist who ran out after them. Luckily criminal charges were avoided after the budding lawyers stated their case and the group were free to go!