Dear Student,
These instructions set out some of the practical arrangements for the weekend, and some important details about the weekend’s programme.
We will be staying in the The Milner York (formerly the Principal York, formerly The Royal York Hotel). It is a large hotel, and there will be other guests staying there. Remember that you are representing the Inn at all times and that you are expected to behave accordingly.
You will have access to the hotel’s excellent facilities in your spare time. For full details, do have a look at their website.
The Inn will pay for accommodation in shared rooms, meals and refreshments, but if you incur any expenses on top of that, for example car parking fees, or bar bills, you will have to look after them yourself. The Milner York is a 20-minute drive from the A1 - post code for SatNav is YO24 1AA. There is a car park which charges for parking, and which is managed by an external company. Those parking are to settle their parking charges on departure. Please note, the car park is operated by a camera system. The hotel says that any guest who does not pay for parking at reception and register their car registration details will receive a parking fine by post.
Travel
The hotel is literally off Platform 1 of York Station, so the train will be by far the most convenient way to travel. If you prefer to travel by car (see above), the hotel does have car parking facilities, but separate changes will apply, for which you will be responsible.
Dress code
The dress code will be smart casual for Saturday and Sunday during the day, except for dinner on Friday and Saturday, which is formal (i.e. lounge suit / equivalent).
What is this weekend about?
The purpose of this weekend is:
What sort of cases will we be working on?
The exercises are based on criminal cases. Whatever area of practice you see yourself specialising in, experience in criminal advocacy will provide basic skills on which you can build later on.
This is a course in advocacy, when you will be taught skills that can be used in all areas of practice. This is not a course in criminal procedure. Important questions of relevance and cogency of evidence, double-edged evidence, not misleading the court and other related issues might be discussed during the case analysis and training sessions, but the focus is on advocacy.
The programme is not intended to be a module of your vocational course: We assume that you are being taught basic principles and theoretical concepts on your course, and will therefore focus on practice.
The programme aims to strike a balance between intensive work and periods of relaxation. Occasionally students suggest making the programme longer or otherwise more intense. Please remember, however, that the trainers give up their time for free and will need a bit of breathing space before starting another working week.
What do the workshops look like?
For the practical exercises, you will be in workshops of up to six students, led by one or two trainers. Details on which group you are in, who will be training you, and where your group will meet can be found the Participants and Groups pages on this website. A guide to the location of the various rooms here.
What happens in the witness handling workshops?
In the trial of R v Dean Bell, you will either prosecute or defend. You will conduct examinations-in-chief and cross-examinations as appropriate to that role. Before going into the workshops, there will be a case analysis session looking at the issues in this exercise.
You will be asked to play a witness when it is not your turn performing as an advocate. It is important that you do not need to rely on your script in the witness box. Try to visualise the whole incident in every detail as described in the statement, cinema-style, and answer questions by "remembering" the incident itself rather than the statement.
What about closing speeches?
There is simply not enough time in the schedule for a proper closing speech to be made. There may be exercises to assist you to formulate arguments and think on your feet. If there is time, your trainers might invite you to give some thought as to how you might approach a closing speech, but closing speeches are not formally built into the workshops in order to allow flexibility.
What happens in the plea in mitigation workshops?
For the plea in mitigation in the workshops, you should prepare as though you were making your submissions in court. In real life there would, of course, also be a presentation for the prosecution. Because time in the workshops is limited, you are provided with a video of the prosecution opening to view before the workshop, which will focus on the plea itself. All mitigation exercises will require you to be aware of, and make appropriate reference to, the relevant sentencing guidelines, to which there are links in the materials on this website.
How will the training in the workshops work?
Trainers will use the “Hampel method” in all workshops. You should be familiar with this approach from your advocacy training on your vocational course.
You will undertake an examination-in-chief or cross-examination, as instructed by the trainer. Time constraints mean that you will not normally get a chance to conduct a full examination: once the trainers have identified the issue in your performance which they would like to address, they will stop you.
Your trainers will
You will then be given an opportunity to repeat a short part of the exercise to put the advice given into practice.
This method will identify where and how you can improve your advocacy skills. The trainers will not spend time praising you for things you can already do well; they will spend time on the things that are done less well and help you improve them.
What happens in the plenary sessions?
The presentations in the plenary sessions are intended
Please be prepared
You will find it enormously useful if you read the material, understood it and thought about the role you are to undertake.
Can’t we have the Case Analysis session in advance?
No, for two reasons: Firstly, it is logistically impossible to have an interactive session on a separate date. Secondly, we assume that you have done some work on this on your vocational course.
Which exercises do we need to look at?
The website contains the following materials:
R v Dean Bell: this will be used for the workshops on Saturday. You will be expected to examine-in-chief and cross-examine witnesses in every one of these workshops.
You will have to make a plea in mitigation in one of these two exercises, R v Robert Price or
R v Djemal Dinc in the workshops on Sunday.
The menu for the materials is on the home page, and also in a drop-down list; click / press the “Hamburger” button in the top right of each page. Cumberland Lodge has Wi-Fi, and you will be able to access this website throughout the weekend.
In the materials, dates are given as follows:
Y-0 2025
Y-1 2024
Y-2 2023 and so on.
The materials are set out in the style of the Digital Case System (“DCS”) used in the Criminal Courts. The link will take you to the brief for the Prosecution. The link to the other papers are highlighted in pink on the left hand side of the page; the black text does not link to papers in this case.
Which side are you on?
In both the Participants and Groups pages on this website, all student names are written with P (or Prosecution) or D (or Defence) to signify which side they are on.
Students in the P (Prosecution) group will
act for the prosecution in the case of R v Dean Bell
make a plea in mitigation on behalf of Robert Price
Students in the D (Defence) group will
act for the defence in the case of R v Dean Bell
make a plea in mitigation on behalf of Djemal Dinc
In the Plea in Mitigation exercises, there is a video of of the prosecution opening under the heading “Opening - video (new tab)” in each case.
During all the sessions, please make sure that you have the means to access the materials on this website, either on an electronic device, or on paper.
How can I prepare?
You will only benefit from this programme if you are ready to take an active part both in the workshops and in the Case Analysis sessions. You should therefore be thoroughly familiar with all the facts of the cases.
Specifically, for the Dean Bell exercise:
Specifically, for the plea in mitigation:
How can I provide feedback?
To ensure this programme meets the needs of the Inn’s Students, you are expected to help by giving feedback using the feedback form. The link to the form is available at the end of the weekend and will only take a few minutes of your time to complete. Your feedback is anonymous. If there is an issue you would prefer to discuss, please contact the Inn’s Director of Education, Christa Richmond.
Conclusion
The old cliché remains true: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. We hope you will have a rewarding weekend and look forward to seeing you.