The faculty of the Procedural Law Department at the University of La Laguna recently developed an innovative teaching and educational transfer project with fourth-year undergraduate students. Specifically, a dozen students attended a jury trial at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Courthouse. After observing the various sessions and gathering all the information, the students had to deliver a guilty or not guilty verdict, just as the nine members of the officially appointed jury would do.
This exercise, which took place this February and was inspired by a similar activity carried out by the same academic department several decades ago, aimed to create a parallel jury composed of students from the institution. In this way, the students were able to experience firsthand the process of a real trial and compare their findings with the final verdict.
“It has been very helpful, firstly, in helping me decide what I want to do in the future, and secondly, it has been a very fun experience that has taught us a lot about the practical aspects of Law, not only because of how a Jury Court works, but also because it has been very interactive to be able to open up and debate as if we were part of a real jury,” said one of the participating students.
Agreement of criteria
After a week of attending this mock trial, the students of the academic center reached their verdict, which coincided with that of the jury, finding one of the defendants guilty and acquitting the other. This similarity of opinion between the legal professionals and the students was striking both to the participating students and to the teachers involved in the activity.
This innovative project was spearheaded by teachers Alicia González, Giovanni Fonte, Andrea Martín, and Diana Marrero. In addition, Ana T. Afonso and Juana Rodríguez, professors in the Procedural Law department, participated, providing students with firsthand experience of how courts and tribunals operate.
The realization of this project has been made possible thanks to the Vice-Rectorate for Teaching of the University of La Laguna, and the collaboration of the Illustrious Bar Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the General Council of the Judiciary.
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