Assessment 2 - Court Visit & Report

write about case which is related to business law, consumer law.

NOTE 1: do not write about any case which is related tocriminal law or traffic law or family

law.

NOTE 2: do not copy and paste from internet and put references like website name and books name after every paregraph do not forget to put refernces please. and do not copy write in your own words.

Length:

2000 words

Aim

The aim of the court report is to get you out of the classroom and into the courtroom

to see how the law works in practice! We would like you to visit a court to observe

 

proceedings for a couple of hours and then write a report on your visit.

 

Planning your court visit

 

 

 

 

It is important to have an understanding of the court system before you embark on

 

your visit. Therefore, please complete the required reading for Week 1 and 2 before

 

visiting a court.

 

Your best chance of seeing a court case from beginning to end will be in the Local

 

Court or District Court. Please be aware that there is no certainty that the magistrate

 

or judge will reach a decision while you are in court and we do not expect you to stay

 

until a decision is reached. A couple of hours observing proceedings should be

 

sufficient to gain enough understanding of the matter to write your Report.

 

If you find yourself in the middle of a lengthy trial, you may find it more interesting to

 

visit another court. Also, if you find yourself in a list court where matters are quickly

 

mentioned, it may be more useful to move to another court as you may not gather

 

sufficient information to complete the required Report.

 

Although you may wish to visit court with other students, you must submit your own

 

written work.

 

 

 

For locations of Local Courts, please refer to the following link:

 

 

http://www.localcourt.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/localcourts/court_locations.html

 

 

 

 

 

District Court: Sydney

 

Downing Centre 143-147 Liverpool Street

 

(corner of Liverpool and Elizabeth Streets, above Museum Station)

 

The District Court also sits at 225 Macquarie Street and in Parramatta, Liverpool and

 

Penrith.

 

Supreme Court

 

 

 

Law Courts Building, Queens Square (Phillip Street, near University of Sydney Law

 

School). You may be interested in hearing Bail Applications in the Supreme Court

 

(ask the front desk of the Supreme Court for directions)

 

 

 

 

 

Visiting the Court

 

 

There is no need to dress formally when you attend court, but you should dress

 

neatly and you should remember that smoking, drinking and eating are not permitted

 

in court. Nor is it permissible to take any type of electronic recording device into a

 

courtroom.

 

When you arrive at the court you may wish to introduce yourself to a court officer.

 

Explain that you are a student and that you have the task of observing and reporting

 

on a court case. You should ask

 

the Court Officer whether the taking of notes is

 

permitted. The Court Officer may also be helpful in providing information concerning

 

the case being heard.

 

As you enter and leave the courtroom while the court is in session, you should stop,

 

face the bench and bow. When the magistrate or judge enters and leaves the

 

courtroom, you should stand up. The magistrate or judge will then bow to those

 

present in the courtroom. It is a mark of respect by those present to bow back.

 

The structure of your report

 

 

 

A) Background details

 

 

 

 

State precisely:

 

 

 

 

•

name of the court visited

 

•

date of the visit

 

•

name of the case

 

•

name of presiding judge or magistrate

 

•

subject matter of the case

 

•

whether the parties were represented

 

These facts can be stated in point form. These background details are necessary so

 

that the reader of your report can build up an accurate picture of the setting about

 

which you are reporting. Your reader will be able to understand the rest of your

 

report better if they begin with a clear picture of the setting. Some details about the

 

cases being heard will be posted on a notice board in the court foyer or, as stated

 

previously, you can often find out such information from the Court Officer.

 

B) The court proceedings

 

 

 

 

This section is to be the body of the Report. We ask that you discuss your

 

interpretation of the roles that participants were playing in the courtroom, the kinds of

 

interactions between them, the evidence and the way in which it was presented. It is

 

important to discuss the role of the judge or magistrate, lawyers and parties to the

 

proceedings and any others worth commenting on in some detail. These details can

 

include the extent the presiding officer played an active part, the degree of formality or

 

informality in the proceedings, the degree of hostility or otherwise between the

 

participants, some details of the evidence and the way in which evidence was

 

presented.

 

 

 

If a final decision was reached in the case, then explain the outcome and any reasons

 

given for the decision. As previously explained, not all cases will come to a conclusion

 

in the time you have available to observe proceedings. In these cases, from what you

 

have observed, what do you think will be the likely conclusion of the case? In

 

discussing the outcome or likely outcome of the case, comment on whether you agree

 

with the decision or what you think may be the decision. Give reasons why you agree

 

or disagree.

 

Comment on the court process and how it was similar or different from your

 

expectations. Does the court process you observed and the outcome of the case (if

 

you were present when the case came to a conclusion) accord with your notions of

 

"justice"? Explain your views.

 

Other questions you should answer are as follows:

 

 

 

 

•

What was the most interesting part of your visit? Why?

 

•

Is there anything about what you observed that would cause you to want to

 

settle a case or to pursue it fully to trial? What and why?

 

 

•

What was your overall impression of your Court visit and what did you learn

 

from your visit?

 

C) The Law

 

 

 

 

Parties bringing cases to court argue that there has been a breach of the law. In the

 

case you observed, name a statute or case that was relied on or relates to your case.

 

Cite the case or statute and give brief details about how it relates to your case. If you

 

were unable to pick up any mention of a case or statute when you were observing

 

proceedings, state this and attempt to find a case or statue that you think is relevant to

 

 

your case. Justify why you think the case or statue is relevant.