Navigating the courts
• Do you understand legalese and Latin terms?
• Know the principles behind the rule of law?
• Do you understand the roles of the different players? - Attorneys, advocates, judges, magistrates, prosecutors, state advocates, assessors and clerks
• Can you find your way around the various courts of the land?
Learn to navigate the labyrinth of the South African legal system!
The comprehensive, practical and theoretical four-day modular course, facilitated by top legal experts, will cover, in 20 intensive sessions:
• Practical experience in reporting a crucial constitutional court judgment;
• How legislation is prepared, tabled, goes through parliament and put into effect;
• How judges are appointed, disciplined and impeached;
• What the three arms of state are and what functions and powers fall in each sphere;
• How the legal profession, legislature and the judiciary function;
• What the difference is between legal terms, for instance a judgment, an order and a ruling;
• The differences between criminal and civil litigation;
• How to access and navigate complex court files, case dockets and documentation;
• The different proceedings, and how they differ - motion proceedings, trial proceedings, criminal proceedings and appeal proceedings; and,
• The new rules governing the use of cameras and audio recorders in court.
This course will be extremely interactive, using case studies and sample cases to ensure that you've not only hear the message, but put it into practice as well.
Once you have completed the course, you will be able to sniff out the legal stories, report comprehensively on the court cases, the enactment of law, and understand key laws that affect journalistic practice.
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Who should attend:
The workshop will improve the knowledge of the law for all journalists from newspapers, magazines and internet publications. It is preferable that delegates should have experience in journalism or law to benefit from the content.
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About the expert trainer:
Carmel Rickard has been writing about the courts and the law since the early 1980s. She has won a number of awards for her work and was for many years legal editor of the Sunday Times as well as law columnist for the Weekly Mail (fore-runner of the M&G). She was awarded an LLM (cum laude) in 1998 and is the author of, among other books, the biography of Judge Anton Mostert, whistle-blower on the Info Scandal in the 1970s, one of the many shames of the National Party government. Currently she writes a syndicated legal column for the Independent group's morning titles as well as other regular features about the law.
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Had something else in mind?
The IAJ are the media training specialists. If you can't find what you're looking for on our website, please contact our Writing Unit Manager, Sandra Roberts on 011 482 4990 or az.gro.jai@etirw to discuss your requirements.
Time: 09:00 - 16:00
Venue: Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, Johannesburg
More info:
Institute for the Advancement of Journalism
1 Richmond Forum, Cedar Avenue, Richmond