Yellowknife (Apr 15/05) - Knowing what happens if someone is arrested and their rights are not read could prove useful.

Then there's knowing where you stand if you refuse a blood transfusion because your religion does not permit it.

These were among several questions posed by students to lawyers during Law Day 2005 in Yellowknife this week.

The legal system and its many processes were unravelled for students of Sir John Franklin high school during the panel discussion in City Hall's council chambers.

Janice Walsh, chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the NWT, said with April 14 being National Law Day, it was decided to canvass students to find out where their interests within the legal profession lie.

"Some of the primary interests were fact or fiction about lawyers and whether or not what they see on TV is real," she said. "We have an overriding theme which was access to justice and the Northwest Territories has a very interesting history in access to justice," Walsh said.

Chief Justice Ted Richard, crown prosecutor Noel Sinclair, RCMP officer Kerri Riehl, Loretta Bouwmeester, City of Yellowknife legal counsel and lawyer Margo Nightingale all took part in the forum.

Both Richard and Sinclair discussed access to justice and specific services offered to people in the NWT for redress or remedy.

Lawyer Margo Nightingale said the event was a good opportunity for students to find out about the law and what careers are available to them. "It was also to find out what their specific rights might be should they find themselves in trouble," Nightingale said.

Laura McLeod was one of the students who found the panel interesting and informative.

"In our social studies class we are learning about the Charter of Rights and it's important to see and learn about it from different people that are actually in the law and know more about it than our actual teacher does," McLeod said.

Jessi Casebeer was interested in the rights of a person who may be arrested.

"I didn't know what they meant by reading you your rights and what kind of rights," Casebeer said.