Should law be a mandatory subject in Scottish schools?

Gordon Cairns considers why — if ignorance of the law is no defence — Scottish schools don't teach the law from an early age.

For the vast majority of the general public, the first interaction with the concept of law is in the classroom, be it engaging with the rather brutal justice of 16th Century Italian City States when studying the Merchant of Venice to learning about our judicial system in Modern Studies. Yet this engagement with justice is a somewhat scattergun approach rather than a comprehensive teaching programme about the laws we need to know, especially if we are in a situation when we need are at the sharp end of them. While classroom debate on the rights and wrongs of capital punishment might be the first step on the pathway into the legal profession for some, it could be argued there are far too many people who don’t know enough about how the legal system works and what their rights are. Modern Studies, where the teaching of law currently resides, tends to be taught in only two six-week blocks in S1 and S2 of secondary school, and Scotland’s justice system is only one topic amongst many. Are people going to court well enough equipped to deal with being accused of a crime, or as a witness or victim? Do they know how to access support for healthcare or family issues? Would making lessons in the law mandatory better prepare our young people for the pressures of adult life?

Currently law does feature in a number of subject areas, for instance when pupils are developing their understanding of the principles of democracy and citizenship in social studies. Additionally, many organisations within the law sector recognise the importance of educating young people about the judicial system, offering practical support and resources to schools. The Law Society of Scotland not only runs the Donald Dewar Memorial Debate Tournament, involving 64 schools across Scotland but also the successful Street Law programme where university law students deliver highly interactive law lessons to school pupils. Another educational support is the School Mock Court Project, introducing the law to senior primary school pupils and secondary pupils aged 13-18. These programmes simulate real courtroom proceedings, allowing pupils to take on roles such as solicitors, advocates, witnesses, and court staff, fostering critical thinking, teamwork, and public speaking skills.

The Scottish Sentencing Council is also involved in the education of young people through a number of mediums and works closely with the Modern Studies Association. This year they organised a school essay writing competition asking the question ‘Is sentencing in Scotland fair?’The winning entrant met Lord Beckett and received a tour of Parliament House. For Joanne McMillan, a member of the council’s Communications and Engagement Committee, it is crucially important that the greatest number of people from as wide variety of backgrounds as possible have a good knowledge of the court process and the justice system. She tells me: “From the perspective of Open Justice and the rule of law, I think it is really important the public are aware of and understand what is going on in the courts and in their local communities.”

She stresses the importance of the principals of Open Justice to the Scottish Sentencing Council: “In terms of sentencing-ultimately the primary focus of the sentencing council- understanding how the courts reach their decision and what sentences are handed down really is important to try and support the principals of Open Justice.”

Of course, the sooner a person can learn about these principals, the more informed they will be throughout the rest of their lives: “In relation to children, I think if we start educating children and young people about these topics at an earlier stage, then they’ll carry that knowledge through their lives and it will benefit them further down the line once they get into adulthood.”

Unlike other institutions such as the church, interacting with the justice system is unavoidable if we want to exist in society. Ms McMillan adds: “The law effects everybody at some point in their lives, either they could be cited as a juror, they could be a witness to something, they could be accused of something or they could be a victim of a crime so the greater the understanding people have at a young age, the more beneficial and the less daunting it will be for someone further down the line if they have a basic understanding of what goes on in the courts.”

However, she wouldn’t go as far as calling for this to become a compulsory part of our young people’s education: “We wouldn’t take a view on whether this is something that should be mandatory in schools, ultimately that would be an answer for Scottish Government or for local Councils to decide on what goes in the curriculum. However, in my experience teachers have got a great interest in reaching out and asking about the sentencing council or asking about my job as a solicitor. There certainly does appear to be quite a high level of promotion of the justice system.”

Taken in isolation, it seems clear making law a compulsory subject at high school level could only be beneficial to students, not least for those planning a career within the profession. Some might argue however, that other subjects could be equally worthy of being added to the core curriculum; psychology, philosophy or even teaching young people how to be financially responsible. Mike Corbett the Scotland National Official for NASUWT, the country’s second largest teaching union can also see the benefits of studying law but urges caution from our educational decision makers. He said: “While the idea of equipping young people with a basic working knowledge of the law has much to recommend it, in practice there are significant hurdles that would need to be overcome before this could become a reality.”

Mr Corbett believes something would need to give to fit in law and wonders when training teachers in this new subject would occur: “The curriculum is already heavily loaded so if law was to be added in, other areas of learning would need to be removed or reduced in order to make time and space. If teachers were expected to teach these topics they would need to be provided with the training and resources to do so at a time when workload and working hours are already unacceptably high. There are also questions about how the introduction of law into the curriculum would cohere with existing curricular and qualifications frameworks.”

In the current political climate where the burden of solving more and more of societal issues is put onto education, it seems unlikely that the government or local educational authorities would add giving each young person a weekly lesson in law, at least not in the short term. In the meantime, organisations such as The Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Sentencing Council will continue to provide valuable support to schools in giving children a grounding in the law.