Human Rights Office, Projects and Progress

Mock Trial

The Mock Trial program is split up into two parts. The first part is aimed at teaching teenagers basic debating skills which they will then use in acting out a mock trial at the Wynberg Magistrates Court.

For this program, volunteers will work with different groups of youths from different locations including Athlone and Crossroads. The program will begin with a course of debating workshops led by volunteers who will teach the groups some basic debating skills. It is hoped that these skills help the children to become more confident and eager when it comes to their presentations of the mock trial. The curriculum for these debating workshops has been created already and so will be something you will easily be able to follow and add your own flare to.

For the mock trials, groups are given an area to focus on and this will be an issue that is prevalent in their community. This may be rape, assault or robbery for example. They are given time to prepare their case with volunteers monitoring and assisting them with this. They then perform the trial in front of an advocate who judges the proceedings as well as makes the decision based on the interpretation of the law by the youth. Parents and friends of the children are also invited to witness the proceedings.

This project is not a constant running project like many of our others and has been used as a project over school holidays when volunteers dedicate a full 3 weeks to the children. However, the mock trial is also something which we have run with the youth in some of our other projects in the past when we have had volunteers with a specific interest in the mock trial procedure.

If this is an area that interests you or that you have had some experience in then you are welcome to get involved with this project, adding your own flare and taking it to the communities in which we work.

Volunteer Testimonies

“Learning how to debate and to stand up and defend your opinions but doing so with a community spirit is the way in which both these children and you will reach an awareness of your human rights and your duties in a multicultural society such as South Africa. You will be surprised about how smart and curious these children are, how acute their perceptions are of the biggest social problems of their country and of how much you can learn from them. ”
Thea Serpi, Italy, 1 month