Wednesday 3rd of July was the annual Legal London trip for year 12 A level law students.

In the morning, students visited the Central London Crown Court, The Old Bailey.  

Before entering the court, due to the high security regulations, that seem to get stricter each year, students piled all their belongings into two bags and these were dropped into a local shop, at an exorbitant price (which also seems to increase each year!) – no electronics, including phones, Smart watches, fit bits, allowed; no liquids; no sharps.  Although the big case currently at The Old Bailey is the London Bridge terrorist enquiry, criminal trials are taking place in the other court rooms.

Outside Old Bailey

The first stop was the top floor where a murder trial was taking place with nine defendants, some charged under the joint enterprise rule.  The students were able to witness legal argument here, as the jury had been sent out whilst the judged ruled on various points of law in relation to the evidence.  The next stop was on the bottom floor where an attempted murder trial was in full swing. The class witness several witnesses giving evidence and was able to watch CCTV of the incident and hear a recording of the call to the police. 

Royal Courts of Justice

After lunch, the class toured some of the legal and historical sights enroute from The Old Bailey to The Strand, where The Royal Courts of Justice are located.  This spectacle building houses the High Court and The Court of Appeal. Students were able to wander the building taking in the legal atmosphere. The second floor houses an interesting costume exhibition, including an example of The Black Cap, the ‘hat’ put on by judges pre-1965 when they sentenced someone to death.

Lunch

Lunch

Charle Hewitt, year 12 student commented that:

The law trip was very educational, and I found it very useful being able to apply everything I have learnt in class to real life situations at the Old Bailey court. Now I’ll be able to more easily link anything we learn in class to a real situation, which will make everything easier to understand.