The Lord Chief Justice, the Right Honourable Lord Ian Burnett of Maldon visited Stoke Damerel Community College to talk to students about his role as the Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and to discuss law as a career.
The Lord Chief Justice also held a question-and-answer session with the 25 students, from Year 10 going into Year 11 and Year 12 going into Year 13. He was joined by District Tribunal Judge Julia O’Hara and District Judge Penelope Taylor for the 45-minute event.
He told the students:
“A judge’s main role is to ensure everyone has a fair trial or a fair appeal.”
He dispelled the image of law being a ‘dry and boring’ career, saying:
“Actually, it is mostly good fun!”
And he encouraged students who are interested in the law to join the profession, adding:
“Because unless we have good people coming into law, then the whole system will flounder.”
Two of the college’s sixth formers, Soso and Lily-Mae, stayed at the end of the talk to chat further with the Lord Chief Justice as both are interested in going into law.
Lily-Mae said:
“It was a very useful experience to learn face-to-face, especially about the emotional side – I feel that’s not touched upon so much in books or online. And it was just a good opportunity to talk to the Lord Chief Justice and listen to his advice.”
Soso added:
“Lily-Mae and I were saying only recently, ‘wouldn’t it be great to meet the Lord Chief Justice’ and we never thought it would happen! Hearing about the day-to-day reality of law, that was what I found particularly valuable.”
