Students get taste of criminal law practice at Bar Mock Trials National Competition

The winner of the 27^th Bar Mock Trials National Competition final which took place last month is Wilmslow High School in Cheshire.

The annual competition, established by the Citizenship Foundations, sees secondary school students across the UK compete in a series of mock criminal trials while being mentored and assessed by 90 judges and 300 barristers and advocates. Since the competition’s inception in 1991, some 53,000 school students have taken part.

This year’s final took place at Cardiff Crown Court in late March, and was watched by the chair of the Bar, Andrew Walker QC. He commented: “I have been thoroughly impressed at the talent that has been displayed by so many who took part in the Bar Mock Trials National Final today. Events like this make an important contribution towards ensuring that the best and brightest minds are entering the profession, unimpeded by and irrespective of social background.  They also help us to increase public understanding of the criminal justice system and of the legal profession, by bringing the courtroom to life for young people across the country, and by bringing them into direct contact with members of the Bar and judges.  We hope they will take that understanding into their adult lives and into whatever careers they may pursue. Our long-standing support of the competition reflects those goals.”

“On behalf of the Bar Council I congratulate the winners on a well-deserved victory, and I hope to encounter at least some of those I saw, from all of the finalist schools, in counsel’s row in our courtrooms in a few years’ time.”