2019 Practical Civics Class for Rule-of-Law Education: Campus Mock Jury Trial Sharing Session

Centered around the lay participation system, the campus mock jury trial adapts common civil and criminal cases into courtroom short plays. Students are divided into groups: one group plays judges, prosecutors, lawyers, defendants, and witnesses, while the other group serves as jurors. During the trial proceedings, judges, prosecutors, and defense counsel fulfill their statutory duties respectively, and witnesses undergo cross-examination. The jury deliberation process tests their ability to uphold the presumption of innocence while learning the importance of practicing the principle of adjudication based on evidence.

Aside from the basic legal knowledge embedded in the plot, which allows students to personally experience and learn about the legal issues involved in individual cases, the lecturer-led discussion further explains the importance of adhering to the fundamental principles of criminal trials, thereby promoting the implementation of "procedural fairness and neutrality" during trials. Furthermore, the jury deliberation process is one of communication, dialogue, and mutual persuasion, embodying the spirit of deliberative democracy.

Launched in 2015, the JRF campus mock jury trial has held activities in schools across Taiwan. To date, a total of 163 campus mock jury trial sessions have been completed across 96 junior and senior high schools, reaching 4.5% of all junior high schools and 12.3% of all senior high schools in Taiwan. This indicates that 95.5% of junior high schools and 87.7% of senior high schools have yet to collaborate with us, leaving ample room for future efforts. We hope to reach more school teachers by holding sharing sessions divided into northern, central, and southern regions.

Kaohsiung has been chosen as the first stop for the 2019 Southern Region Sharing Session. Interested teachers are warmly invited to join us!

Online Registration

Time

January 3, 2019 (Thu) 14:00-17:00

Venue

Large Conference Room 302, Kaohsiung City National Education Advisory Group (No. 1, Zihyou 3rd Rd., Tsoying Dist., Kaohsiung City) 

Professional Development Hours

Three hours of professional development credit will be issued

Speakers

Fu Shih-Wei / Civics Teacher, National Taitung Girls' Senior High School
Yang Tsung-Han / Attorney, Hsien-Cheng Law Firm
Huang Wei-Ting / Director of Taichung Office, Judicial Reform Foundation
 

Agenda

Agenda	Time	Content
Check-in	14:00-14:10	Participant Check-in
Introduction by Moderator	14:10-14:20	Screening of video and brief introduction on the purpose of promoting rule-of-law education through mock jury trial activities
Results Presentation	14:20-14:45	2018 Results Report
Live Experience: Mock Trial	14:45-15:15	Performance of a mock jury trial play by volunteer actors (New script | Partial performance)
Explanation Session	15:15-15:45	Explanation and sharing by JRF personnel regarding cooperative programs and models for operating campus mock jury trials.
Intermission	15:45-16:00	Break
Experience Sharing	16:00-16:30	Sharing of insights by civics teachers and lawyers with prior collaboration experience
Q&A Session	16:30-17:00	On-site feedback and Q&A
Departure	17:00	End of Event