Criminal Courts of Justice

Criminal Courts of Justice Visit

The courts play a very important role in our society yet for many people their knowledge of how courts function is limited to what they see and hear on television or read in the newspapers.

Each year our TY classes have the opportunity to visit the Criminal Courts of Justice. Our last visit was scheduled to take place on 22 April 2020 but the onset of Covid made this impossible. The visit has always be one of the highlights in our TY calendar. Such visits will be scheduled when permissible by the Courts Service.

A guided visit to the Criminal Courts of Justice  provides students with a unique opportunity to observe what happens in court and to learn how court business is conducted inside and outside the courtroom.

On arrival at the CCJ a barrister always meets our group and we are then brought to a courtroom to discuss the Irish Legal System, the structure of the courts and working in the courts. The barrister then conducts a short mock trial with our students.

Following the mock trial our classes are then divided into smaller groups, each accompanied by a teacher and guided to a courtroom to observe a court session.