Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Municipal Court Training offers workplace options

Did you know that just by attending one municipal court training program, such as Centennial College’s Court Support Services, you will be prepared to work as either a court report or court clerk? That’s because this offering takes two semesters to teach its students the know-how to perform the varied tasks of both positions.

As a court clerk, you will be responsible for maintaining and keeping court records, which includes the typing, filing and attending court appointments as well as answering calls. In addition, your court clerk training will give you the abilities to contact witnesses, lawyers and litigants to instruct them on when to appear in court for a case; prepare dockets of cases to be called out; administer oaths to witnesses, jurors and grand jurors; authenticate copies of court records and handle financial record keeping; act as custodians of the court’s seal and records; collect fees and other payments or deposits made to the court; process petitions and warrants; and handle court correspondences. Meanwhile, as a court reporter, you will be responsible for using electronic monitoring equipment to record, verbatim, a variety of assigned court proceedings. Among specific duties are: monitoring what is said in court using a headset, recording what is said using transcribing machinery and playing back recordings as required, keeping a running log as the trial proceeds (including relevant data according to the numerical calibrator), and preparing accurate transcripts and maintains a file of appeal transcripts.

Approved by the Ministry of the Attorney General, Centennial College’s municipal court training covers vital areas of the court system such as: family and criminal court, current issues in Canadian law, word processing, ethics and professional conduct, and more. The topics are presented through theoretical lectures, practical and career-oriented assignments, and hands-on application in computer labs and courtroom settings that simulate real life situations. In fact, Centennial College’s Progress Campus boasts a simulated courtroom that allows students to become comfortable with the tasks they will perform, including taking an oath and presenting before a judge.  Because all classes in this municipal court training are small, students have a chance for one-on-one time with their instructors as well as networking and peer interaction with fellow students.

To complement this simulated training, students take numerous trips to various courtrooms and tribunal hearings to see, firsthand, exactly what their role will be within the courtroom setting. Additionally, there are two municipal court training practicum aspects that allow students to apply what they have learned to real-world settings prior to graduation. In order to graduate from the Court Support Services program, students are required to attain a minimum C grade average and an overall minimum GPA of 2.0 for graduation.

To apply for Centennial College’s municipal court training, applicants must present at minimum an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or equivalent or be 19 years of age or older. Academic requirements include compulsory English 12 or U, or skills assessment, or equivalent.

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