Each team was required to follow strict legal procedures and standards, and each team needed to thoroughly study the case notes related laws in order to prepare. In addition, they wrote scripts for questioning witnesses, prepared opening and closing statements and presented evidence in order to prove their case.

 

Both the prosecution and defense teams worked with a coach and legal mentor to prepare their cases. Afterwards, students took on the roles of barristers, solicitors and witnesses. “It was quite nerve-racking presenting a case in front of a real judge, but we put in a lot of preparation so we were confident that we sounded professional and believable” said Nicol Tsang, also a member of the DGS team. 

Practicing criminal law barrister and DGS alumni Sabrina Leung helped coach her alma mater’s team to victory. She was impressed with how quickly the students were able to pick up the intricacies of the law. "I played a role in helping them build credible arguments, and remaining calm in the face of adversity," she said.

The final rounds of the trials were heard before Court of First Instance judge Mrs. Justice Audrey Campbell-Moffat. Meanwhile, as she has done at the previous mock trail competitions, Elsie Leung Oi Sie, a prominent member of Hong Kong's first generation of female lawyers and Hong Kong's first Secretary for Justice after the 1997 handover, acted as the chief adjudicator for the competition.

DGS student Jacqueline Yu, who played the role of a carefree, party-loving witness in the imaginary kidnapping case, says it was fun creating a character that offered crucial evidence, but that it was challenging to maintain a “reliable” appearance in the eyes of opposing teams. "You have to stay in character while answering some really tricky questions," she says.

As the overall winners, the 12-member DGS team will travel to San Francisco in October to take part in the prestigious US Empire Mock Trial Championship. "Besides giving them the opportunity to compete with overseas teams, their trip to San Francisco will offer the winning students a priceless learning experience and valuable international exposure," says Jennifer Ma, co-founded of ARCH Community Outreach (ACO), which organises the annual mock trial championship as part of the charity's focus on broadening Hong Kong youth’s international education experiences.

"The experience of preparing and taking part in the mock trails is far more valuable than a lot of what is learned in the classroom or internships," Ma adds. She believes that, for young people interested in joining the legal profession, preparing case strategies and arguments for a trial, having real legal professionals as mentors and presenting in front of a judge provides a realistic insight of what a career as a legal professional will involve.

"Through role-playing, students learn about the various processes of law in a challenging and engaging way," Ma says. And regardless of career choice, students involved in the trials all get the chance to improve their collaborative, analytical public speaking skills. "These are all valuable life skillsets," Ma says. In her post competition summary, justice Campbell-Moffat said she was impressed by the overall standard of preparation and the persuasiveness of arguments presented by the participating teams. "It is hard to believe the legal points I have heard being made before me are coming from students, some of which are as young as 13 or 14-years old."

Campbell-Moffat has been teaching advocacy for over 15 years and is a founding member of the Hong Kong Advocacy Training Council and the International Advocacy Training Council. "Whichever career the students that appeared before me choose to follow, I am sure they will be successful, so I hope they join the legal profession," she said.

Echoing her sentiments, Leung said Hong Kong's legal profession offers a wealth of attractive career opportunities and challenges. "It would be wonderful to see some of the young people who took part in the mock trials competition take up a career in law, especially the females." she said.

Ahead of taking part in the US Empire Mock Trial Championship in San Francisco, Joan Cho, a DGS English teacher and the DGS mock trial team coach, said her team has heard from their seniors who have done public speaking competitions in Canada, that the North American style is persuasive, with more focus on rhetoric. "They are interested in finding out for themselves if it is true, and will be preparing to sharpen their case accordingly, with training sessions beginning towards the end of the summer holiday," said Cho.

Asked if the mock trail experience had had any influence on the way they interact with their parents, several members of the DGS team said they are now able to see reasoning from their parent's perspective, but were also more likely to “object” if their parents suggested something they disagree with.

In addition to DGS being the overall winners, St Paul's Convent School, Diocesan Boys' School, La Salle College and Good Hope School were named Outstanding Trial Teams. Bernd Wong, a student at the Chinese International School (CIS) was named  Outstanding Barrister, while Alan Fan, also a CIS student, was named Outstanding Witness.