Court on Campus

Ms Goodsell and Ms Schuman’s Stage 1 Legal Studies classes were given a taste of presenting arguments in a “court” in the last week of Term. The classes studied a civil case involving injuries sustained from a kayaking trip. Students acted either for the appellant, Penelope Potter, or the respondent, Kayaks4You. 

The students were required to integrate precedent and sections from the Civil Liability Act into their submissions. They then presented their submissions in the “Moot Court of Darwin High School”, aka classrooms A5 and A3.

During their submissions the judge asked them questions to clarify their arguments and they handled these questions admirably.

This unit of work, adapted from the Bond University High School Mooting Competition material, gives students an understanding of the ways that a court uses circumstances, previous judgements (precedent) and legislation to come to a decision.