BY MELVILLE TITIULU
Five first year law students from the University of the South Pacific (USP), Solomon Islands campus, observed court sessions at the Honiara Central Magistrate Court yesterday.
This was part of their court observation report assignment as law students.
They were in attendance at the Courtroom 3, while a few others were in attendance at Courtroom 1 and 2.
Principal Magistrate Felix Hollision, during a trial hearing, took time to inform court attendees that they had in attendance with them, some of the first-year law students, doing their Courts and Dispute Resolution – court observation report assignment.
At the close of the trial, he explained to them the procedural history of the case before them and what had happened in court.
After the court session, the students were briefed by a Magistrate court clerk on the role of the courts.
Two of these students, Shantel Maka and Rosalyn currently pursuing a Bachelor’s of Law degree at the USP, Solomon Islands campus shared what they learned from this experience.
Both told Island Sun that their court observation assignment specifically demands that they attend a court session and report back on what they have observed that day.
Maka said she was able to get an overview of how criminal cases are dealt with, gained insights into how courtroom procedures work and also got to understand the importance of evidence.
Rosalyn said from her court observation, she gained knowledge on how the criminal justice system works, in terms of how the police investigates crimes, how the prosecution prosecutes cases, and how the courts punish criminal offenders.
The USP law students were then later briefed by a prosecuting police officer and a defence lawyer from the Public Solicitor’s office at the Honiara central magistrate’s court, on the trial issues raised pertaining to the trial matter that they have attended and observed in court.
Photo: Supplied
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