How can we help?

Students should prepare for the session by familiarizing themselves with the problems associated with the modern justice system. They may find the resources listed below useful. 

Videos:

• How to fix our broken criminal justice system
• Inside the criminal justice system with the Secret Barrister
• Doing more harm than good in the criminal justice system

Articles:

• Convicting the innocent
• Joint enterprise law reform will help solve UK justice system crisis
• Access to justice for marginalised rural victims across South East Asia

Students should prepare for this lesson by researching the benefits and drawbacks of the modern justice system. Suggested resources are listed in the “Preparation Tasks” section.

Use these questions to discuss students’ research:

• • What are the primary functions of the modern justice system?

  • How do you define justice?

  • Do you think the current system in [country] effectively achieves justice for all?

  • What are some common criticisms of the justice system?

Explain that students are going to generate and evaluate solutions to the common problems associated with the modern justice system.

As a class, establish a list of criteria to assess the viability of any proposed solutions.

Suggestions:

• Is the solution achievable within the given constraints (e.g., time, budget, resources)?

• Can the solution be maintained over time?

• Can the solution be adapted to different contexts?

• How does the solution affect different stakeholders?

Divide students into groups and assign each group a different problem associated with the modern justice system.

Each group should create a new multi-thesis Kialo discussion using their problem as the question. Students will need their own Kialo accounts to do this.

Questions could include:

• How can we reduce incarceration rates?

• How can we eliminate systemic biases within the justice system?

• How can we ensure all individuals have equitable access to legal representation?

• How can we make court processes more efficient?

Give students time to consider possible solutions and add each one to the Kialo discussion as a thesis.

Students should then analyze the pros and cons of their solutions by adding claims to the discussion.

Encourage students to use sources to justify their claims. 

Once students have analyzed all their possible solutions, they should select one to present and justify to the class in one of the following ways:

• Question Time: Display the Kialo discussion on the screen and ask students to use the pros and cons to justify their proposed solution, while the audience asks questions. The group should add further pros and cons to the Kialo discussion based on the audience’s questions.

• Role-Play Perspectives: Have members of the group take on the role of different stakeholders and justify the proposed solution.

• News Report: Film a short news report, reporting on the proposed solution. Include interviews with stakeholders and infographics to justify the solution.

Use the following questions to reflect on the problem-solving process:

• How did your understanding of the problem evolve during the discussion?

• To what extent does your solution meet the criteria?

• How did collaboration affect the problem-solving process?

• How did your perspective on the problems and solutions change during the discussion?

• Can you think of other problems where this approach would be useful?

• How has your understanding of the problem-solving process developed?