Friday, 16 October 20265L Lisa Gao
On 4 October, we, the members of the Mock Trial team, attended the opening ceremony of Mock Trial, marking the start of an exciting new year of our legal journey!
From the decorations of the ceremony hall to the welcoming speech given by the MCs, the entire event ran smoothly. We even had the chance to play against each other by “Rock-Paper-Scissors” in a lucky draw process! That is hardly imaginable for most opening ceremonies, yet it was indeed fun!
This year, Mock Trial is focusing on the process of searching for the truth, building assumptions based on evidence and ultimately finding justice. To kick things off, they even invited a former High Court judge, Judge Li Hon-Leung, to share his own experiences with us students: how he brings justice in the cases he has seen while contemplating and balancing everyone affected by the case. For example, his acknowledging the impact of sentencing (especially the record that would be left on the person), the defendant’s reasoning (such as him being a kind person usually, or was so poor he was forced to commit a crime), or the plaintiff’s needs (money, apologies after suffering damages), all while safeguarding justice and maintaining an environment for a fair trial.
Mr Li was truly an honourable judge; his words had me quickly immersed in the environment of Mock Trial, and thinking more comprehensively about the legal system. I believe attempts to know more about the law will also be an important part of my Mock Trial journey this year. Now that the opposing school was also revealed by the lucky draw, may each one of us prepare well for the competition and become a better version of ourselves by the end of the year with all the other amazing law-related activities coming our way!