JES Newsletter

New Programs

Mock Trials Are Back
Due to teacher requests, JES has reinstated bookings for mock trials at our Vancouver Law Courts, Lower Mainland West, Lower Mainland South Fraser, Victoria and Okanagan offices. You can book this activity at CourtVisit.JusticeEducation.ca.

Why do a Mock Trial?
Participants can learn the most about our justice system by experiencing it themselves in a simulated trial, called a “mock” trial. A mock trial is a definitive, dramatic, experiential learning opportunity. It develops advocacy skills and critical thinking in addition to providing knowledge about the law. Mock trials are good for all ages as they demonstrate how a trial works.

What Mock Trials are available?
There are several scripted and non-scripted mock trials available for your use.

Where do the trials take place?
The group will perform its mock trial in a real courtroom.

Charge for Facilitating the Mock Trial
There is a charge for facilitating the mock trial. Please bring a cheque with you on the day of your visit made payable to the Justice Education Society. A receipt will be issued.

• Standard mock trials (up to 75 minutes) - $100
• Advanced mock trials (75 minutes to 3 hours) - $200
• Groups can also rent robes to perform mock trials in their own school settings for $30

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Resource Updates

Resource of the Month
Being an Active Citizen
Being an Active Citizen is a 5-year program with 10 lessons per year for Social Studies grades 7-11. It enhances curriculum on law, government and citizenship by teaching students about the political and justice systems in Canada and BC and giving them tools and confidence to be active citizens.

Being an Active Citizen also encourages students to participate in their community as active citizens. This approach is important as it allows students opportunities to engage in active citizenship activities over a number of years and, in doing so, builds their interest and skills. It also allows for the coordination of this teaching to coincide with citizenship week, local government awareness week, one world week and law week every year.

The main purpose of the program is to allow students to go beyond learning in the classroom and become actively involved in their community. This active engagement within different aspects of the legal system, government and civil society will animate the concepts learned in class, and highlight for the students the importance of these subjects within their own lives. Learn more about Being an Active Citizen online at BCcitizenship.ca.

You can download all of Being an Active Citizen’s resources online or order a free CD.

Website of the Month
The Law Project
LawProject.ca helps students learn about BC justice issues by integrating videos, images and text to provide learning resources that students can then work with to create their own videos to explain their view on a justice issue. Teachers can modify supplied lesson plans to deliver instruction that is customized to meet their needs.

Current Projects

The Society is working on a number of exciting projects right now. Many of these projects are due in March – so stay tuned for forthcoming news about:

ProvincialCourt.bc.ca
The Society has been commissioned to launch a completely redesigned BC Provincial Court website. The new look includes improved navigation and a clean interface that allows multiple audiences to access a range of information about the court.

LawLessons.ca
The Society will launch a new website for youth and parents, plus teachers and students. It will consolidate a number of current web resources and provide a single online destination to access a broad range of content.

Teacher Workshops
The Society is producing a series of workshops that will provide professional development opportunities for teachers. The workshops will be available starting in May. Be sure to check LawLessons.ca (in April) to discover available topics.

ISO Forms
Most Canadian provinces have cooperative agreements with each other and a number of additional jurisdictions regarding changing or creating child support orders. The Society is producing a series of FormSupport Guides to provide information about the forms and instructions on how to fill them out. We are also producing a guided support video to help separated parents understand what forms need to be completed, based on their specific situations.

Dispute Resolution
The Society is producing website content and a series of four animated videos that provide information about resolving disputes before they escalate. The resources will live on AdminLawBC.ca and be available at the end of March. In addition, the Society will be developing workshops to introduce administrative law intermediaries to these new resources and to examine how dispute resolution strategies can be integrated into current practices.

Child Support Resources
We are producing content to provide simple, plain language information about child support in BC. The information will present positive, “can-do” information on FamiliesChange.ca. Look for it in April.

International Programs
The International section of JusticeEducation.ca is being updated to describe the varied work of our International Programs. Information has been updated on our active projects in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

Program Updates

Justice System Education Program
Tamarah Prevost, a project assistant with JES, will facilitate the Justice System Education Program (JSEP) in our Lower Mainland South Fraser office for two days per week until the end of March.

JSEP provides an overview of the justice system. Participants visit the courthouse, speak with justice system professionals and experience court in action. To book a visit for your group – in Surrey or another location throughout BC – visit CourtVisit.JusticeEducation.ca.

International Program

Special Methods of Investigation
December 2011 was a significant month for the Society’s Special Methods of Investigation (SMI) project. After extensive preparation, new units for Forensic Video Analysis in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras were officially inaugurated, following the delivery of additional equipment. JES has trained personnel in the three countries, thereby helping create a regional network of forensic video analysts who can use standardized techniques and share expertise on the use of the tools available to them. To facilitate the units’ operation and knowledge sharing, a blog has been created, operational procedures have been developed and a procedures manual is being drafted.

In January, a joint mission representing JES and the RCMP travelled to Guatemala to carry out a needs assessment in the area of source development and management. In order to learn more about Guatemala’s current practices, procedures and resources, they held meetings with officials from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Civil Police, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, and the National Commission on Police Reform. The assessment will provide the basis for the creation of a Source Development Unit, which is contemplated in the SMI project.

JES also organized a seminar on ballistics from January 21-24 in Honduras. The seminar, which was hosted with Canadian experts on forensic technology, was offered to members of Honduras’ Public Prosecutor´s Office and the National Civil Police. Attendees, including the Attorney General and the Minister of Security, learned about the Integrated Ballistics Identification System (IBIS), how the system is used in Canada, and how it could aid criminal investigation in Honduras.

The Special Methods of Investigation project is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Criminal Investigation in Guatemala
In Quetzaltenango, JES has been undertaking a number of planning activities in the past months for the implementation of a model that will help coordinate prosecutors and police, allowing them to strengthen their capacities in criminal investigation. The National Civil Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office will be monitoring the model closely for potential replication throughout the country in future years. The project is now starting with renovations to the local police headquarters for an improved physical work environment. The renovated quarters will be used by JES in the future to train new investigators.

International Newsletter
The JES International Program’s newsletter will be emailed next month. You can email kevin.smith(at)JusticeEducation.ca to subscribe.

Courtlink Testimonials
Courtlinks are part of the Northern Native Public Legal Education Program, which is run out of our Northern Office in Prince George. The Aboriginal Youth-at-Risk component is designed for students enrolled in an alternate class situation or alternate program at the upper elementary or high school level. The program emphasizes property crime and or vandalism, violence/assault and lying but could also include racism, gangs, drugs and careers in the courts.

Recently, Annette Russell, the Society’s Aboriginal Programs Coordinator, received two testimonials from a teacher and principal whose classes participated in the program.

“…The more time our students spend with justice folks in a positive and non-confrontational setting increases the likelihood that they will see Justice Personnel as people who can help them in life, and not necessarily as adversaries…

“As always, receiving reference and resource documents well in advance of presentations or trips has made all of our experiences exceptional. Your planning, flexibility, good will and mature and humourous call for high expectations has been the cornerstone strength of working on these projects, Annette. This approach works well with our students, many of whom have experienced educational failure, have low patience for authority and tend to shy away from structured activities, particularly when plans fall through or when authority is blunt.

“Thank you for the opportunity to participate in CourtLink and related programs and I know that we will continue to look to you and the CourtLink resources, including web based resources, to provide our students with practical and relevant learning experiences that are key to their understanding of the structure and basic legal processes of our justice system…”

- Secondary school teacher and principal

“As a group, both adults and students, we came away from this workshop with a far greater understanding of the justice system, the roles that its’ constituent members play, our own rights and responsibilities, and perhaps most profoundly, how the choices we make daily in our lives have consequences, both personally and legally. We have the ability and the power to make sure those choices are positive ones, to help us grow and develop as individuals and citizens. There is no forgone quality to choices – we make them and are responsible for them.

“We are most appreciative of and grateful for the opportunity this workshop provided our group, to have a very personal and intimate experience with the justice system and the people and rules that underpin it…

“I have absolutely no reservations in fully supporting this Justice Education Society program. In more than twenty five years of teaching and administrating it stands out as one of the most useful and meaningful student experiences available.”

- Elementary and secondary school teacher

Events

Court Information Program for Immigrants Events
The Binh Luong, the Chinese and Vietnamese Court Worker for the Court Information Program for Immigrants, will be speaking and answering questions twice in February.

First, on February 4 at 10:10 am, he will be appearing on Fairchild Radio (AM 1470 or FM 96.1) about general legal information and administrative law. The program will be in Vietnamese.

And on February 18 he will be speaking at the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House (800 E. Broadway, Vancouver) about general legal information for Vietnamese Montagnard immigrants. The event is from 2 pm to 4 pm.

Pro-D Teacher Training Workshop
JES is holding a free Pro-D Day Teachers Training Workshop on “Youth Against Violence: Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls.” This program focuses on mobilizing youth groups across BC to plan awareness-raising events in their communities.

Workshop participants will learn about this program, which fits well with Social Justice classes but can also be adapted to a variety of settings. Teachers will walk away with ready-to-use lesson plans and teaching materials for grades 8-12. The Youth Against Violence program supports the We Can End All Violence Against Women BC campaign and is funded by Status of Women Canada under the Blueprints Initiative.

Date: April 20
Time: 9 am to 12 pm
Location: Justice Education Society classroom (260-800 Hornby St., Vancouver, BC)
Registration: Online at TeachersLawInstitutes.ca

Society News

The Society welcomes Jacqueline Wood as its new project manager, PLEI. Jacqueline’s experience in the legal community will be a great asset as she works on many exciting projects for JES.

In addition, Jaclyn Moore has joined JES as a project assistant. She had previously been a valuable volunteer for the Society.

JES is also very sad to say goodbye to Kevin Smith, its communications and events coordinator. We are currently accepting applications for the position.