By Jennifer Bloom and Sally Revak

From Unit 1 of LegalWays, a curriculum designed to teach a variety of legal topics of interest to young people, this lesson describes conciliation (small claims) court, presents the steps in pursuing a claim, and asks students consider whether a series of cases are under the jurisdiction (control) of the conciliation court.  This lesson includes short reading items, situations to consider by individuals or small groups and writing short answers.

Objectives

Students will understand that there are different courts and that these courts handle different kinds of cases.

Students will know the basic functions and procedures of two courts that they might be involved in: juvenile court and conciliation court.

Students will know the importance of their right to an attorney and when that right is available to them.

Time to Complete

One class period

Materials Needed

• LegalWays Curriculum Overview
• Legal System Teaching Guide
• Student Handout Conciliation Court

Procedure

See Legal System Teaching Guide

 

 

Source

LegalWays was supported by Grant No. 95-JS-FX-0300 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, and U.S. Department of Justice.