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Going to

Court

Published: August 2004

National Committee for Families and Children

in cooperation with UNICEF

Text by: Judith Alpuche, MSW

Ava Pennill, M.A.

Illustrated by: Ernesto Alpuche Jr.

Design by: Starla Bradley-Acosta, MSW

Acknowledgments: Thank you to the following persons for reviewing the booklet: Ms.

Margaret Nicholas, Mr. Herbert Lord, and Mr. Earl Jones.

Based on the booklet “Going to Court” by Glasgow School of Art

You have been asked to attend court as a witness. If you have not been to court before you might be wondering about who will be there and what will happen. This little book will help you understand.

1. What is a Court?

Going to Court

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A court can look like this….

or this….

A court is a special place where people go to find out if a person, usually an adult, has broken the law (done something bad or wrong). Everybody that is called or summons to court tells the person in charge the truth about something that happened. This is called a trial. The person in charge of the court is called a magistrate or judge.

A magistrate or judge is a person whose job is to listen to what people have to say about something they have seen or heard, or something that has happened to them. The magistrate is the person in charge of the first court that you will attend called the Magistrate Court. The judge is the person in charge of the second court that you might have to attend called the Supreme Court. Sometimes judges wear special clothing and headdress The judge or magistrate can be a woman or a man. Their job is to make sure that everything is fair and so will listen very carefully to what you have to say.

2. Who is a Judge or Magistrate?

The judge will also make sure everything is fair.

The magistrate will make sure that everything is fair.

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A witness is a person who goes to court to tell the judge or magistrate about something that has happened. Lots of children go to court to be a witness because of something they have seen or because something has happened to them.

Being a witness is an important job. When you go to court as a witness you might be asked questions about something that is bad or unpleasant but you should not be frightened to tell the judge or magistrate about this. They understand about these things. They will not think that it is your fault because you have seen something bad or because something bad has happened to you.

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Being a witness is an important job.

3. What is a witness?

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You will be asked questions about what has happened. All you have to do is try to answer them. You must always tell the truth.

You will have an adult to keep your company when you come to court. This adult may be your social worker.

Just tell the truth.

4. What will I have to do?

5. What will happen when I go

to Court?

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You will be asked to sit and wait until it is your turn. You might have to wait for a long time. You can bring a colouring book or a book to read so that you can have something to do while you are waiting.

Sometimes you may have to come back another day to see the magistrate or judge.

When they are ready to listen to you, some people will be asked to leave so that you can have some privacy. You might be asked to sit in a special place to tell the magistrate or judge what happened.

Bring a book to read while you wait.

Social Worker

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At the Magistrate’s Court you will see the magistrate who may be sitting high up at a big desk.

The magistrate’s courtroom may look like this.

6. Who will be in the courtroom?

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The Magistrate’s ourtroom may look like this.

There will be people called prosecutors who will ask you questions. Sometimes the prosecutors are also police officers and will be dressed in police uniform.

There might also be people called lawyers who will ask you questions.

Police officer

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The Judge’s courtroom may look like this.

At the Supreme Court you will see a judge sitting high up at a big desk. The judge might be wearing special clothes and a headdress.

There will also be lawyers who will ask you questions. They might also be wearing special clothing. There will be several other people in the courtroom. A person will be sitting and taking notes. A group of people will be sitting together and listening to what is happening. They are called a jury. The person who might have broken the law or done something bad may be sitting in the courtroom as well.

The lawyer will ask you questions.

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When you go into the courtroom, you will be shown where to sit until you are called. When it is your turn, you will be asked to sit in a special place.

The magistrate or judge will then speak to you and ask questions such as: your name, how old you are and where you go to school. They will also ask if you know what it means to tell the truth.

It is very important to tell the truth. People must always tell the truth in court. It is all right to tell the judge or magistrate something that is a secret, as long it is true.

After the magistrate or judge has spoken to you, you will be asked some questions by one of the lawyers or a prosecutor. This person has asked you to come to court and will ask you questions which will help you tell what happened to you. After that you will be asked some more questions by another lawyer.

The judge may speak to you.

7. What will happen in Court?

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These people only want you to tell the truth about what you can remember. If you really can’t remember what happened, just say that you can’t remember. People sometimes forget things and the judge or magistrate understands that.

Listen to each question carefully before you give your answer. If you don’t understand a question, you should say so and someone will help you. You should always speak in a loud voice because it is important that the people listening can hear what you have to say.

You might be asked to look around the court to see if you can point to somebody. You can take as much time as you want to. You do not have to point to the person right away and you might have to look at a lot people before you see the person. If you see the person you should point to him or her. If you don’t think the person is in the room, you should tell the judge or magistrate.

You might be asked to point to somebody.

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If you have had to wait for a long time or if you are asked a lot of questions you might find that you want to go to the bathroom. Don’t worry about this. If it happens ask the judge or magistrate if you can go to the bathroom. It would be a good idea to go to the bathroom before you go to the courtroom.

After all the questions have been asked, you will be able to leave the court. You will have done an important job and the judge or magistrate will be pleased.

Go to the bathroom before you go to the courtroom.

Then you can go home.

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The Department of Human Services 2nd. Floor Commercial Center

Belize City, Belize

Tel: 227-7451 or 227-2057 Fax: 227-1276

For more information, you can

contact:

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