This is an old photo but things don't change much. Photo taken from the National Library Archives
Today we changed our plans in order to pick up an opportunity to sit in and hear some of the proceedings at the Court House. One of the homeschooling families has a lawyer in their family so we had an opportunity to not only observe but ask questions as well.
We were there for only such a short time – though we did see part of a trial and a few pleas take place – but it gave us an overall awareness of what goes on. We learnt
* A little about the beginnings of our law system
* The difference between a trial and a plea
* That when you walk into the court room and bow you are actually acknowledging the crown not the judge.
There is no way you can get an understanding of the court/legal system in just the few hours we had, but there is no an awareness that will be the basis of future connections.
Oh, yes, we also learnt that they talk in converstional voices – nothing like a court case on TV!!
Whether the Judge was 'in' or not we still had to bow as we came in or out of the court room because we are acknowledging the authority of the crown not the judge
