HSYAReview2024 - Flipbook - Page 8
The High Sheriff
Youth Awards
in 2024-2025
east to west
The Surrey Magistrates
Association
east to west is at the forefront of
‘bringing hope to young lives’. Our
vision is for children, young people,
and families to overcome the
challenges they face and become the
very best they can be. We are
committed to being present in the
messy realties of young people’s
everyday lives, offering hands-on,
whole-hearted help. We are not
perfect, we are always learning, but we
work hard to live out our ethos as a
selfless and devoted community where
compassion and integrity meet fun – so
that in every encounter we bring hope
to the young lives we’re privileged to
be a part of.
SMA is a charity and works to support
magistrates and increase public
awareness of the role of magistrates in
the criminal and civil justice system.
Teams of magistrates attend primary,
secondary, 6th form colleges, schools,
community groups, give presentations
and discuss how magistrates are
appointed, what kind of cases they
deal with, how guilt or innocence is
decided, how magistrates decide to
sentence and some of the implications
of getting a criminal record.
Support can take the form of a one-toone and group sessions listening to
and caring for young people for
months and sometime years. It can
also involve practical help such as
going with the children to doctor’s
appointments or food banks,
connecting them with a social worker
or whatever kind of help is needed
The Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial
Competition involves over 4,000
students from over 270 schools and
1,700 legal professional volunteers at
51 courts.
The Magistrates’ Court Mock Trial
Competition is part of the Law in
Schools programme which helps
improve young people’s life skills, their
understanding of the justice and the
legal system, and helps them to
understand that the law touches every
aspect of their lives.
The competition creates the
foundations for the students to develop
into legally capable young people and
aims to introduce the legal system to
young people in an exciting way that
has a lasting impact on all those
involved, whilst developing student’s
soft skills that will be of use throughout
their lives. The pupils who take part in
the competition are from many different
backgrounds and walks of life. State
schools, Free schools and academies
from around the country participate in
mock trials that take place local to
them. In the roles of lawyers,
witnesses, magistrates and court staff,
students prosecute and defend
specially written criminal cases. Teams
compete against each other in real
Magistrates' courts in front of real
magistrates.
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