Court Experience Program
“I enjoyed learning about the case and who was involved and what the situation was. It was interesting to see the lawyers’ side of things. Every different court has a completely different atmosphere, for example Mental Health Court was more open and casual than assault court. I really enjoyed my experience and am definitely considering becoming a Crown Attorney as my future career."
What is it?
Participating LAWS high school students spend a full day at the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall, 311 Jarvis and College Park court houses job shadowing a Justice of the Peace, Crown Attorney, Duty Counsel (defence lawyer), or a Judge. "Job shadowing" means that students spend time with a legal professional to observe the duties and functions they perform in court. During the day, students are encouraged to ask questions about the professional's career, career-path, or anything they witnessed.
** Please note: Due to limited resources, only those students enrolled in the LAWS Program at Central Technical School, Harbord Collegiate Institute and Monarch Park Collegiate are eligible to participate in LAWS programming.
What are the program’s goals?
The Court Experience Program gives participating LAWS high school students an opportunity to closely observe the duties and functions performed by legal professionals in a criminal justice setting. Students come away from the experience with a better awareness of how the justice system works in practice, and of the range of law-related careers available to them after graduation.
What do participants think of the Court Experience Program?
“My experience at the court was really good because I enjoyed everything about this experience. I really enjoyed shadowing a Justice of the Peace. I am not just saying this to be nice, because before I didn’t have an interest in law, but after the job shadowing experience, I want to be a Justice of the Peace.”
"I enjoyed learning about the case and who was involved and what the situation was. It was interesting to see the lawyers’ side of things. Every different court has a completely different atmosphere, for example Mental Health Court was more open and humourous than assault court. I really enjoyed my experience and am definitely considering becoming a Crown Attorney as my future career.”
“My favourite part of the whole day was being in a particular court room where we got to watch a sexual assault trial. I got to see how lawyers work and how defence lawyers can change things all around to make it seem like the victim is the guilty party. I got to meet the victim, and like a pro [the Crown Attorney] calmed her down and let her know that everything would be ok. The accused was a real jerk and full of himself; I hope he got what he deserved. I was so captivated by the trial I stayed longer while my fellow classmates went home so I could watch the rest of the trial … I just hope they carry on with this program and give other students the opportunity to experience what I’ve experienced.”
“I assumed that everything was going to be boring but the coolest thing was that I got to meet Justice of the Peace Karin. Her Worship Karin was a very nice woman. She gave me every bit of information about each courtroom and their purposes. The best part of the day was visiting courts where I got to sit on the dias with the Justice of the Peace and see the court from her perspective … This was the best excursion I have been to since I came to high school and the best experience. Doing this experience has made me interested in being a Justice of the Peace when I get older.”
“The group of students yesterday were AWESOME. Their enjoyment of what they were doing was very obvious. I so enjoyed spending the day with the student at the office.” (Shelley, Duty Counsel)
