The first ever mock trial tournament for secondary students in Grey and Bruce was held recently in the Provincial Offences Courtrooms at the Grey County Administration Building in Owen Sound.
Teams for this year’s competition on May 22, 2025 were entered by Grey Highlands Secondary School (GHSS), Owen Sound District Secondary School (OSDSS), Saugeen District Senior School (SDSS), and St. Mary’s High School (SMHS). Each year, the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN) publishes a case that secondary students can prepare to take on. This year’s case, R v. Silip, focused on a criminal harassment charge. Teams prepared witnesses and lawyers to represent crown and defence arguments. Students had an opportunity to learn about trial procedures and formalities within the courtroom. For the trials, they were extremely fortunate to have the Honourable Justice Chorney and Honourable Justice Woodley presiding over the cases and assessing student performances.
Morning trials determined which teams would move on to the final round. For each trial in the competition, teams were scored on the performances of their lawyers and witnesses, case theory, and legal knowledge. The outcome of the case (guilty or not guilty) was not the deciding factor of the winning team, but rather how the teams scored relative to each other.
Awards were given for individual performances. Congratulations to Michelle Kocher from SMHS, who won the award for best lawyer, and to Abhayveer Singh from SDSS, who won the best witness award. At lunch, it was announced that SDSS, representing the defence, and OSDSS, representing the crown, would be advancing to the final round. The scores to decide who would advance were very close.
In the final round, both teams presented reasoned arguments. On the final score sheet, the results were once again extremely close with SDSS edging out OSDSS by a single point out of a possible 120 points. Congratulations to the SDSS Law Team on winning this year’s competition!
The organizers of the tournament, OSDSS teachers Cory Munro and Natasha Wood, would like to thank teacher coaches Kyle Watts, Crystal Elder, Julie Musselman, and Olivia Cook for all their work in preparing their teams. As well, thank you to all community volunteers and legal professionals who have assisted students in preparing for the competition (C. Grace, C. Tolton, J. Rice, A. Camilletti, M. McKay, A. Wade, and S. Melsom). The competition also would not have been possible without the assistance of all Grey County staff who assisted, including Amanda Kokas and Rachael Hurst. They are thanked for supporting our students by providing space and looking after the logistics of setting up. Thanks are extended to all OJEN staff, especially Bryn Rieger and Amelia Berot-Burns, for their assistance in planning the tournament and supporting legal education for students. The organizers also thank Anita Koeslag and Bluewater District School Board for supporting this experiential learning opportunity for students, Dominos Pizza Owen Sound for preparing lunch, and the Honourable Justice Woodley and Honourable Justice Chorney for taking time out of their busy schedules to preside over the cases and provide very meaningful and valuable feedback for all students and teams.
For more information about next year’s tournament, please visit
OJEN’s website. The goal is to expand with more secondary school participation in 2026. Legal professionals from the local area who are willing to help teams prepare or who wish to provide sponsorship for next year’s competition are encouraged to get in touch with Cory Munro at
[email protected] or Natasha Wood at
[email protected].