Obtain legal expertise through Centennials Court Clerk Training program
Do you have an interest in the court process? Have criminal and other types of trials always interested you? If so, you may be a good candidate for the court clerk training at Centennial College, which is officially known as Court Support Services. Applicants are required to have completed 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. Applicants must demonstrate an acceptable level of English language proficiency in order to be considered for admission. Applicants whose first language is not English, and who have studied in an English language school system, for less than three full years may meet English proficiency requirements by providing satisfactory results an English Language Proficiency test.
In just two semesters of court clerk training and municipal court training at Centennial College, students are prepared to enter the field as either court clerks or court monitors. Professionals are hired by The Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario Court of Justice, Ontario Superior Court of Justice), municipal courts, tribunals and boards, official examiners, and court reporting services. The responsibilities of court clerks and court monitors vary in a few ways.
A court clerk is in charge of preparing dockets or calendars of cases to be called; recording case dispositions, court orders, and arrangements made for payment of court fees; preparing documents recording the outcomes of court proceedings; instructing parties about timing of court appearances; explaining procedures or forms to parties in cases or to the general public; swearing in jury members, interpreters, witnesses and defendants; and more. Meanwhile, the court monitor asks speakers to clarify inaudible statements; provides transcripts of proceedings upon request of judges, lawyers, or the public; recording verbatim proceedings of courts, legislative assemblies, committee meetings, and other proceedings, using computerized recording equipment, electronic stenograph machines, or stenomasks; transcribes recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats; and responds to requests during court sessions to read portions of the proceedings already recorded.
To ensure that those taking court clerk training and municipal court training are truly prepared, students of Centennial College are required to attain a minimum C grade average and an overall minimum GPA of 2.0.
But how does the court clerk training, which has been approved by the Ministry of the Attorney General, work? First and foremost, students master the procedural rules, municipal court training, court reporting and transcribing as well as specific laws such as family law and criminal law. Each court clerk training course is taught in a small class and features the legal and practical hands-on learning, use of newly upgraded computer labs, simulated courtroom settings, and practical, career-oriented assignments. The campus also boasts an assimilated courtroom so court clerk training students can practice taking an oath and presenting before judges. This is great preparation for two practical on-the-job experiences that students of court clerk training partake in.
To round out the learning that takes place on campus, court clerk training students also take trips to the various courtrooms and tribunals in order for them to see first-hand exactly how their career roles work.
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