By Ioannis Sistovaris, Year 12
So, to start off, you may ask yourself...
“What is Civitas Maximas?”
Let’s start by asking ourselves: “How would I feel if I were one of the many forgotten victims of international crimes?” Meaning that you are a person who has to live with the constant thought that the people who caused your trauma are free, living a normal life, forgetting about the pain they have inflicted on you or your surroundings. This is why Civitas Maximas exists: to make sure that this scenario never happens and that all victims finally get a voice of their own in order to be freed from their daily nightmares. This could finally allow those individuals to move on and be able to live at peace once more.
“Why did I join this?”
Well, as someone who would like to pursue a career in the field of law, when I went to the CAS fair and realized there was a service opportunity in relation to law, I was immediately intrigued. This service project will run from October 12th until November 16th, 2023. Over the sessions, I will be interacting with Civitas Maxima, which enables the documenting of international crimes and seeks remedy on behalf of victims who lack access to justice. As a final goal, we will participate in a mock trial as part of Civitas Maxima’s outreach activities to raise awareness about impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity. This experience will hopefully be a fun but more importantly, enlightening one.
“What did we do?”
During this workshop, I learned a lot. Not only about law but also about international wars that are ongoing in our world. This includes the Israeli-Palestinian war, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and more importantly, the war crimes that have occurred in a small country called Liberia. It was very interesting as I learned a lot about personal cases that occurred but also about the process of how it is possible for Civitas to aid the victims of those war crimes. This includes the processes of starting a case, the rules occurring within the trial, and what people have to do in order to aid them post-trial.
“What did I enjoy the most?”
The thing I enjoyed most is that it was very interactive and we were able to learn a lot about each other’s perspective of the world and understand how people can come together in order to fight the ongoing injustice. Another thing that I really enjoyed was the fact that we performed a mock trial. I was assigned the role of judge. The trial was about a man convicted of many war crimes in a war occurring in a made-up country called Ucanda. This was a very fun and interesting experience as it taught me a lot about how a judiciary trial works but also how war crimes are evaluated in court.
In other words…
I really did enjoy this workshop and would definitely recommend it to you if you are interested in fields of law, politics, or humanitarian issues. It is not only an entertaining experience but you also end up learning a lot about the world and issues that you may sadly not yet be aware of.
If you’re curious about what a mock trial looks like, the Civitas Maximas team welcomes you to join us on Thursday, November 16th from 6:30 to 8 pm in the CDA, in order to see us perform it! Register at hello@philanthropicadventures.com
