  ach year during Law Week the BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association sponsors mock trials for middle school and high school students throughout British Columbia.
For Law Week 2012 Mock Trials will take place in the following locations:
Click below for details of previous Mock Trials
 2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
What is a mock trial?
A mock trial is a simulation trial. A mock trial is also the name of an extracurricular program in which students participate in simulated trials to learn new skills and compete with each other.
A crime mock trial begins with the Crown Counsel giving an opening statement followed by the opening statement of the defense. After the opening statements, examination of the witnesses begins. The Crown Counsel calls witnesses first. The Crown Counsel then conducts a direct examination of the first witness. Once the direct examination is complete, the defense counsel may cross-examine the witness. After the cross-examination, if Crown Counsel chooses, they may redirect a witness and, likewise, the defense counsel may conduct a re-cross-examination. This process is repeated for each witness. Once Crown Counsel has finished with the witnesses, the process is repeated with the defense witnesses, having the defense counsel conduct a direct examination and Crown Counsel cross-examines.
Once all of the witnesses have been examined, the trial moves to closing arguments. The Crown Counsel again goes first. After the defense counsel finishes closing argument, the Crown Counsel may give a rebuttal argument if there is time remaining. In some competitions, the rebuttal is limited to the scope of the defense’s closing arguments. Time limits are set at each level of competition to prevent the trials from running too long and to keep rounds of competition running smoothly.
There are two methods for judging a mock trial. In one method, the presiding judge and two scoring judges score the teams. In a second method, there are two scoring judges and the presiding judge. The two scoring judges score the teams and the presiding judge simply casts a ballot for one team.
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