On April 9, the EGC Business School offered its first-year students an extraordinary educational experience: the simulation of a trial inspired by the Jubilar affair. At the initiative of this project, Delphine Burglé, law trainer, who wanted to offer her students a different approach to learning, by confronting them with a realistic situation. To enrich this staging, the students also benefited from the advice of Éric Raynier, trainer specializing in public speaking, a valuable asset to help them fully embody their roles and gain fluency in speaking. However, it was not a question of identically reproducing the trial of Cédric Jubillar. As their trainer specified, the objective was to go beyond a simple copy and paste of judicial reality. The students worked in advance to understand the facts, reinterpret the case and construct their own scenario. On the day of the simulation, all the codes of a real audience were respected. Magistrates, general lawyers, defense lawyers, witnesses, experts: each role was assigned and embodied by the students themselves. The session began with the constitution of the assize jury, before giving way to the different phases of the trial. The president proceeded to question the accused, followed by the interventions of the lawyers, each defending his theory with conviction. The witnesses and experts then took the stand, providing their insights and contributing to the debate. The pleadings were a highlight of the hearing, highlighting the students’ ability to argue, convince and structure their speech in a demanding context. At the end of the discussions, the jury, accompanied by the public, rendered its verdict: the acquittal of the accused. A decision motivated by a case considered “light” and a lack of evidence sufficiently solid to be convincing. Beyond its fun and original aspect, this exercise is part of a real educational approach.
