Year 11 Court incursion

Using your knowledge of the legal system so far and your observations from the virtual Law
Day Out around King Street Courts and the Downing Centre, complete the following:

Identify the court personnel you observed in the various videos.

Magistrate, Judge, Prosecutor

Choose three and outline their role.

Personnel Role
Magistrate To determine all questions of law and fact in the cases that come before
them in the local court. The magistrate makes all decisions in criminal
matters, including any penalty or punishment.
Judge To interpret how law applies to a particular and to provide an
independent and impartial assessment of the facts in a case and how the
law applies to these facts.
Prosecutor To assist the court in arriving at the truth and to do justice between the
community and the accused, according to law and the prin u

Court room layout

Label this traditional courtroom photo below with the following labels.
Judge Public Gallery
Crown Prosecutor’s Seat Judge’s Associate
Defense Counsel’s Seat Coat of Arms
Witness seat Jury Box
Dock
 Coat of arms

Witness seat

Judges Associate

Jury box

Judge

Crown Prosecutor’s
Seat
Defense Counsel’s Seat

dock Public Gallery

From the video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgH1fjP29GA,

Explain how remote witness facilities protect the vulnerable.
Using the example of a sexual assault case, the victim is able to give their testimony without
having to face the accused. They are able to see, hear and speak to the magistrate and/or
judge as well as the prosecutor and defence lawyer without actually being in the room. The
remote speaker is also able to be seen and heard by everyone in the court room.

List other ways videoconferencing can be used in court cases

- Communicate with someone overseas/unable to make it to the physical court

location
- Previously recorded statements
- Issues relating to COVID-19 (having to isolate for example)

Assess the impact of technology on court cases. Consider how it may increase the courts
efficiency, security and accountability
Technological advancements have allowed for improvements in the court’s efficiency,
especially throughout COVID-19. Now with the ability to partake in court proceeding’s
without actually physically being in the court room, cases are able to proceed quicker and
more effieciently, not having to be so concerned with delaying issues.
There are a range of courts in NSW.
Draw a diagram of the court hierarchy in NSW
 High Court

NSW Court of Criminal

Appeal (Supreme Court)

Supreme Court

District Court

Local Court

Coroners Court

Childrens Court

Describe the role of the following courts:

Court Role
Local Concerned with minor criminal matters and minor civil disputes, the local
court is where most criminal matters are heard, by a magistrate – there
is no jury.
Drug The Drug Court Takes referrals from the Local and District courts of
offenders who are dependent on drugs and deals with non-violent
criminal offences committed by drug-dependent offenders.
District Overseen by a judge/jury, the district court deals with all serious criminal
cases other than murder/treason.

Reflection
Describe something you learnt during your virtual day out that you didn’t already know
about the legal system.
I didn’t know videoconferencing was a part of physical court rooms before this experience.