Courtroom Roles for Grade 6 Famous 5 Program

Judge: The judge is responsible for directing courtroom procedures. This includes introducing the trials
subject and lawyers; directing the lawyers to call witnesses and begin questioning; maintaining order in
the courtroom; and encouraging the lawyers to keep the trial moving at a brisk pace. The student
selected to take on the role of the judge should have fairly strong leadership qualities, patience and
good judgment.
Bailiff: It is the bailiffs responsibility to act as the officer of the court. The bailiff does not have a large
speaking role in the mock trial, but is important as a symbol of order and security. The bailiffs primary
responsibility is to escort witnesses to and from the witness box during the trial. This role will be well
suited for a student who prefers not to take a strong verbal role in class, but prefers to learn by
observing others. For effect, this student should also be encouraged to maintain a grave and serious air
throughout the court proceedings.
Crown Lawyers (2): The lawyers for the Crown (the Alberta government) will be arguing in favour of the
child labour laws that existed in Alberta. The children playing the roles of the Crown Lawyers should be
comfortable with speaking at length in front of their peers. The lawyer roles in this mock courtroom
have the greatest number of lines, so they are easily divided between two students on each side. The
students playing these roles should also be comfortable adopting a somewhat melodramatic demeanor.
The lawyers for the Crown will be arguing that education child labour laws should continue to be lax;
that mandatory school attendance should stay at around 90 days/year until the age of 14, that children
should be able to work up to twelve hours a day, sometimes in dangerous and underpaid conditions,
and that current levels of financial compensation are adequate for the work undertaken.
Plaintiffs Lawyers (2): The lawyers for the Plaintiff will be arguing that Albertas education and child
labour laws should change in order to protect child workers and keep children in school longer. The
children playing the role of the lawyers for the Plaintiff should also be comfortable with speaking at
length in front of their peers. The lawyer roles in this mock courtroom have the greatest number of
lines, so they are easily divided between two students for each side. The students playing these roles
also need to have a flair for the dramatic, as they will be passionately arguing that the current system
exploits child workers, that children should be in school rather than working, and that employing
children serves to undervalue the work of grown men.
Witnesses: There are four students who will be taking on the roles of witnesses. There will be witnesses
called by the lawyers for the Crown and the lawyers for the Plaintiff.
Crown Witness profiles:

Witness A Business Owner: Witness A owns a dry goods store (like a general store) and a livery
stable (horses and wagons for rental, short-term board for horses). This witness is in favour of
continuing the practice of having lax labour laws in Alberta. He makes the argument that

without child labourers, he could not afford to continue his business, as children are willing to
take menial jobs that pay small wages, and adult men would demand higher wages if they were
to do the same work. Witness A also testifies that corporal punishment (hitting, etc.) is a
suitable form of discipline for child workers.
Witness B- A Child Worker: Witness B is a 13 year-old who has left school to become an
apprentice in a blacksmith shop. This witness should be played by a boy (or a girl who doesnt
mind playing a boy character), since girls did not apprentice for trades, and only learned trades
within their families, if they learned them at all. This witness prefers working in the blacksmith
shop to his time spent in school.

Plaintiff Witness Profiles:

Witness C A Mother and Homemaker: Witness E objects to children having to leave school and
start working out of financial necessity. She believes that child labourers are being exploited as
cheap labour by wealthy businessmen. She also thinks that if children were removed from the
workforce, business owners would be forced to pay decent wages to grown men.
Witness D A Child Labourer in a Grain Mill: This witness is a 12 year-old who works in a grain
mill instead of going to school. He has a very harsh employer who mistreats him in several ways,
including physical abuse and withholding wages. He would much rather be in school than
working, but his family needs him to earn extra money.

Jury Members: The jury will be made up of the remaining students in the class. They may be students
are less comfortable speaking in front of large groups of their peers, and who excel at active listening
and collaborative decision making. Through most of the trial, the jurys role will be to listen to the
arguments of the lawyers and the testimony of the witnesses. Once that part of the activity is done, the
jury members will have approximately ten minutes to deliberate and decide whether to keep child
labour laws the same; or change them to set a minimum working age, minimum wage standards and
worker safety standards. One of the jury members will be the jury foreman. This student will be
responsible for addressing the court whenever asked and for reading the verdict of the trial.