COVID-19 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

COVID-19 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
If you are unable to attend a Crown Court, please do this assessment instead

and title it

‘[Student Number] – Covid-19 Trial and Sentence Report’

 Watch a session of a trial at the Appeals Court via
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLfIeTq5grIEkc7JvOpoxg
(Links to an external site.)
 Once you have done this, write a comparison between the Appeals
Court vs the Crown Court.

Here is an example of how you can structure this report:
 Introduction (1 paragraph)

o What was the case about that was being appealed?
o What will you be discussing in this report?

 Comparison (1 or 2 paragraphs)

o What is an Appeals Court and how does it differ to a Crown
Court Trial?
o What are the main differences?

 Comparison of law professionals involved (2 or 3 paragraphs)

o Who are the actors involved?
o Is the role of the Judge the same?
o Is the role of the prosecution and defence the same?
o Make sure you always reference information with literature.

 Administration of Justice (1 or 2 paragraphs)

o How is 'power' and 'fairness' illustrated in both courts?
o Can we apply 'due process' and 'crime control' to the Appeals
Court and the Crown Court?

 Sentencing Section

o Pick a crime that is discussed in the news media (must be a
different case to the one you discussed in Trimester1 Crime
News).
o The case must be UK Based.
o Do not use the James Bulger case.
 Sentencing information (1 or 2 paragraphs)
o State the offence range and maximum.
o Categorise the offence (discuss the harm and culpability factors
listed in the guidelines).
o State the new range and the starting points (based on the
sentencing guidelines).

 Aggravating and Mitigating Factors (1 or 2 paragraphs)

o Discuss the aggravating and mitigating factors of your chosen
case.
o Link the factors back to the sentencing guidelines.

 Your Chosen Sentence (1 or 2 paragraphs)

o State your chosen sentence (based on the sentencing
guidelines)
o Justify/Give reasons for your sentence and link with literature
 ie. reoffending rates, costs, approaches to justice,
o Make sure you maintain an ‘academic tone’ and write your
report in third person (don’t say ‘I’ or ‘We’. Try .. ‘It is
recommended that the defendant gets …’

 Theories of Justice (2 or 3 paragraphs)

o Explain the theories of justice that lie behind your chosen
sentence.
o What theory of justice has driven your sentence (reference
literature).
o How does this theory of justice help justify your sentence and
how does it link with your specific offence.

 Conclusion (1 paragraph)

o Remind the reader of the main differences you discussed.
o Remind the reader of your case, and the sentence you gave.
o Remind the reader why this sentence was the best one.

Marking Criteria:
 Clear and Coherent Summary of the case on trial
 Academic discussion of the trial process observed.
 Demonstration of understanding of key issues.
 Consideration of the aggravating and mitigating factors.
 Critical reflection of the principles and concepts of justice behind different
sentences.
 Clear statement of chosen sentence and comparison with the actual
outcome (if known).
 Uses at least 4 academic references (books or journals) and 4
'credible reference' (gov documents, CPS, etc)  which are referenced
properly.
 Demonstration of good standard of English with few grammatical errors
and written in an academic