Witness Statements, tips

[Resolute]

Hi All,

Witness statements are a bit more complicated and lengthy than position statements, they can be pivotal.

I am starting this thread to try and pull together stuff members have found useful for witness statements.

Here are a few links to get us started:

PRACTICE DIRECTION 22A - WRITTEN EVIDENCE

https://childreninthemiddle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Witness-Statement-Template.pdf

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://rightsofwomen.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/A-guide-to-preparing-witness-statements-for-the-Family-Court.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwij5OTkjPL9AhWHQEEAHdsyBlIQFnoECBsQBg&usg=AOvVaw2iG4rpxR85WTgtXmtlA6ma

Witness Statements - Family Court Barrister

HOW CAN YOUR BARRISTER HELP YOU AS A LITIGANT IN PERSON INFORMATION ON WRITING A WITNESS STATEMENT RESPONSIBILITY OF A LITIGANT IN PERSON Important Note: Please note that this information is not intended to be legal advice. You are advised to seek legal advice. This...

familycourtbarrister.co.uk

Guidance on witness statements in family proceedings | Child Protection Resource

Preparing a witness statement is quite an involved process, some 'book work' is necessary to get it right. I think the links above are enough to get started.

Please can people share their experiences and any hints on dealing with witness statements.

Thanks.

 

[Kyle]

I did start brain dumping my gatherings into a similar thread. Maybe it can all go under the Court Bundles sticky for ease.

I initially found a format for Witness Statements via the YouTube channel Survivor Diaries She does base her videos and advice on the Patriarchal Society and Pat Cravens 'Living with the Dominator' i.e. women vs men, but it's still a helpful resource for writing court documents.

Document writing is one of those things that feels a bit overwhelming at first. But using a particular layout, with sub-headings, gives you something to build on, and gradually, it all comes together.

My case was relatively straight forward. Once I'd gotten over the emotions, I kept things concise, professional and non-critical. And my difficulties and position were backed up with photos and screen grabs of messages using the obligatory exhibit designators, e.g. KYLE1, KYLE2 KYLE3 etc, etc.

Clarity and conciseness helps the court to navigate the information as the hearing progresses, so that really is key. Obviously, the grater the issues in a case the grater the complexity. But you definitely help your case by keeping things succinct and to the point.

 

[Ash]

Excellent resources there. They all have their pros and cons of advice as well - but together they give a clear picture. The one thing I'm not keen on in the second link is this

'There is
now shown to me and marked...’ –

This isn't necessary - courts prefer "plain English" and all that's need is to say (please see exhibit (a)). I saw someone had used this "There is now shown to me and marked ..........." in their statement recently and it used up a lot of additional space within a short page limit that was ordered plus it sounds quite annoying for the reader (IMO).

The Rights of Women link is useful (as is their one on appeals) although it's shocking how loaded their examples are!

This line in the fourth point needs to be a mantra

As your witness statement is the single most important document

The last resource from CPR is like gold in terms of how courts expect contact and format to be.

I think some of this could do to go into a Legal Resource article for the top tab, along with possible examples from actual statements. I'll start on that.

 

[Kyle]

I never used such wooly court language. I simply wrote things like; "The mother has contradicted herself in her position statement dated 23/03/23 as she never gave me the opportunity to communicate to resolve matters, in fact she told me to stay away and take the matter to court before blocking my number, please exhibit KYLE1."

You don't want those 6 pages eaten up with legal waffle. Direct the court to exhibits within your statements.

 

[Resolute]

Excellent resources there. They all have their pros and cons of advice as well - but together they give a clear picture. The one thing I'm not keen on in the second link is this



This isn't necessary - courts prefer "plain English" and all that's need is to say (please see exhibit (a)). I saw someone had used this "There is now shown to me and marked ..........." in their statement recently and it used up a lot of additional space within a short page limit that was ordered plus it sounds quite annoying for the reader (IMO).

The Rights of Women link is useful (as is their one on appeals) although it's shocking how loaded their examples are!

I agree, even with resources as a guide, there are still decisions to be made. This is part of the reason why I went for a few respectable sources. I like the Children in the Middle template, but if space is restricted, you sometimes need to be imaginative. Using headers and footers for part of the information can help maximize the blank space.

Links above are mostly quite general. There are more specific questions that can be important. I made a witness statement up out of what I could google in time for an abridged notice hearing. It was not ordered, it was 15 pages long with 35 pages of evidence, it was accepted by the court and I'm not sure it did me any favours.

At the time I found something that said 15 pages was max for statement and that documents submitted to the court could not total over 50. Since, I have seen bundles that contain hundreds and hundreds of pages with no apparent restriction on any of the documents within. My experience is that the court have accepted anything submitted regardless of timing, relevance, or length. This is a pity, because proper compliance on statements would improve hearings and thereby outcomes for children.

 

[Kyle]

What I learned more than anything from spending hours and hours, researching, drafting, redrafting, worrying, stressing, staying up till 4am, redrafting, worrying, stressing for several months of my life was that I saw my first District Judge pick up my first position statement, look at it for 10 seconds then dump in a tray.

I have no idea how much of my Witness Statement was read during my Final Hearing. But I realised that you have to put yourself into the shoes of the Judge in order for it to be really effective. A Judge that has been sat in hearings all day, trying to absorb a mountain of information from dozens of other cases, day in, day out, week in, week out. Yes, I know it's their job, but they are only human. The courts are overwhelmed and under-resourced . You have to be mindful of this and strategic with your statements contents and volume.

 

[Ash]

Thanks Resolute. A witness statement is not an easy thing to construct. The best advice I was given is - you construct it around your evidence mostly. So start building an evidence file as you go along, throughout the process. It's easy to forget things later or not be able to find something, or waste time trawling through emails to find one.

So throughout the process have the constant thing in the background of - is this useful evidence? With every email sent and received (hence being very careful with every email you send and ensuring things are confirmed in writing). If you think it could be, print it out and put it in a big lever arch file (or have some computerised filing system for document storage if you don't want to use actual paper copies and printing things).

Have different sections with tabs separating them. I had one section for Court orders, one section for Cafcass reports and social services reports, one section for "official letters" (eg from GP, school). Various sections for different categories of email/text communication eg one for "abusive emails" one for "difficulty making arrangements" one for "clearly untrue emails (with evidence showing they're untrue from a previous email or document)".

So you start building the picture with the evidence. It can then be good when writing the statement, to narrow it down to say 8 really important sections of evidence. So one really important issue could contain a number of different emails or texts as exhibits.

Constructing it around evidence is not easy but the evidence itself helps you work out how to construct the statement. Evidence can show - why a certain order is needed (eg obstruction, hostility etc). It can verify some history (and in doing so denounce any previous lies from the ex) - eg by showing confirmation child spent holidays with you in 2018 when the ex has said the child has never spent holidays with you.

I'd say about two thirds of it could be constructed around evidence, with section headings, like History, Issues, etc. And about a third of it could be a sort of "in your own words" description of the child's life with you, and how important their home and relationship is with you.

And a final section setting out what you would like in an order - and be very specific on this - not vague. If you're getting near the page length then one option is to attach a draft order with everything you want and end the statement saying "I therefore request the court make an order as per the attached draft order".

Re length. I notice the CPR document says no more than 15 pages - even though the maximum limit in directions is 25 pages.

Every case will be different, but I was always told - no more than 8 pages (double line spacing). This doesn't include the number of pages of evidence - just the number of pages of statement wording. If something is too long, the Judge may lose attention throughout.

 

[Ash]

What I learned more than anything from spending hours and hours, researching, drafting, redrafting, worrying, stressing, staying up till 4am, redrafting, worrying, stressing for several months of my life was that I saw my first District Judge pick up my first position statement, look at it for 10 seconds then dump in a tray.

I have no idea how much of my Witness Statement was read during my Final Hearing. But I realised that you have to put yourself into the shoes of the Judge in order for it to be really effective. A Judge that has been sat in hearings all day, trying to absorb a mountain of information from dozens of other cases, day in, day out, week in, week out. Yes, I know it's their job, but they are only human. The courts are overwhelmed and under-resourced . You have to be mindful of this and strategic with your statements contents and volume.

The beauty of position statements is they can be read quickly and the information and your points absorbed. Judges become fast readers - they have to read a lot of stuff. A witness statement is a much bigger thing and it can become turgid to read and needs to keep some kind of trajectory and line to follow. It's not easy. I likened it to having to write an essay in terms of structuring - and I had help with mine.

But I think always keep three things in mind:

1) You are writing it for someone who has to read it and is human, and will see logic and reason, and you want that person onside and to sound like a sound coparent.

2) It must be 100% truthful and accurate (hence anything you say of importance needs to be backed up with evidence). If in doubt, leave something out - eg if it could be shown to be contradictory or from memory which may be individual.

I forgot the third one! Might come to me.

 

[Ash]

I'll sticky this thread Resolute - until I get a full article up on Witness Statements.

 

[Kyle]

My post DRA order specified that the parties much submit Witness Statements not greater than 6 pages in length. So not much room for overabundance.

I agree with the speed reading skills that Judges etc much have. My first DJ must have been related to Johnny 5 (showing my age now) as he read the best part of 2000 words in several seconds.

 

[Ash]

I agree, even with resources as a guide, there are still decisions to be made. This is part of the reason why I went for a few respectable sources. I like the Children in the Middle template, but if space is restricted, you sometimes need to be imaginative. Using headers and footers for part of the information can help maximize the blank space.

Links above are mostly quite general. There are more specific questions that can be important. I made a witness statement up out of what I could google in time for an abridged notice hearing. It was not ordered, it was 15 pages long with 35 pages of evidence, it was accepted by the court and I'm not sure it did me any favours.

At the time I found something that said 15 pages was max for statement and that documents submitted to the court could not total over 50. Since, I have seen bundles that contain hundreds and hundreds of pages with no apparent restriction on any of the documents within. My experience is that the court have accepted anything submitted regardless of timing, relevance, or length. This is a pity, because proper compliance on statements would improve hearings and thereby outcomes for children.

Agree - a proper guideline would be good. Some court orders specify no more than x pages. I guess the "less is more" can be useful to remember as well - as in two or three really important points and important evidence, can have more effect than many pages of evidence repeating the same point over and over. On the other hand if there's no evidence attached at all, it's not much help to your case. And sometimes it's hard to find suitable evidence. Hence chatting with us on here helps people realise they do have some evidence. You can even plan some ahead. A GP letter disproving something you know an ex is lying about, can be strong evidence.

Some cases will be more complex than others so I guess they have to have some flexibility. Often though an ex's statement will be so bad, full of mud slinging and no evidence attached (they usually don't have any because you're in the right and by final hearing, welfare issues have been dealt with) - so it can help you feel more confident about yours!

 

[Ash]

There is also the point, as usual, of not being criticial about the ex - and this is where attached exhibits are a godsend - because you're not saying anything critical - you're attaching evidence that does it for you kind of. So you might say something perfectly reasonable like:

Trying to make arrangements about the children has been very difficult to achieve at times and this has caused my son/daughter stress and uncertainty at times, never knowing when they will see me or plans being cancelled (see exhibits a, b and f).

The exhibits could include emails/texts to and from the ex, where you ask to arrange something and get an abusive mouthful or rant back! They could include confirmation of a cancelled booking you'd planned. They could include further email/text evidence of arrangements being changed at the last minute or no alternative times agreed to.

 

[jafranks]

Hey guys, just a quick one. This was a helpful read - any of you have thoughts/input on affidavits to submit alongside witness statements? I have preliminary directions for appeal and within these the court asks for any affidavits/witness statements to include in addition. Just trying to get my head around the ‘affidavit’ part of this and if it’s worth submitting.

And when I say worth…. I mean is it necessary in family court. I’m a little confused by the word to be honest.

 

[Kyle]

Hey guys, just a quick one. This was a helpful read - any of you have thoughts/input on affidavits to submit alongside witness statements? I have preliminary directions for appeal and within these the court asks for any affidavits/witness statements to include in addition. Just trying to get my head around the ‘affidavit’ part of this and if it’s worth submitting.

And when I say worth…. I mean is it necessary in family court. I’m a little confused by the word to be honest.

Sorry only just seen this.

An affidavit is a written statement of facts that has been sworn by oath or affirmed to be true.

In the UK, an affidavit must be sworn or affirmed in the presence of a Commissioner for Oaths - most commonly a solicitor or a notary public.

Affidavits have often been used in court proceedings as additional evidence in conjunction with witness statements. For someone with evidence to present, swearing an affidavit may be more practical than appearing as a witness in court.

The meaning of the word affidavit is 'he has sworn' - the third person singular of the Latin verb affidare. If you make an affidavit, you are said to 'offer' it, even though a court might compel you to swear on one.

An affidavit is also known as a sworn statement, a statement under oath or a notarised statement.

Anyone who has sufficient mental capacity to understand the implications of making this type of oath can make an affidavit.

The text of an affidavit is a record of the knowledge and beliefs of the person offering it. Because the content could contain personal opinion rather than fact, and because some facts could be omitted either because they have been forgotten, or because the individual was not aware of them, you are not accountable for failing to include information of which you are not aware.

In the UK, affidavits are most commonly used in litigation - any dispute that is taken before a court such as divorce proceedings and family law proceedings. Disputes over inheritance or ownership of property. Disputes over debt and debt cases.

However, since the Civil Procedure Rules came into force, witness statements are increasingly replacing affidavits.

I have no first hand experience of understanding directions for an appeal. Witness statements are the norm. You would need to make an informed decision regarding which type of document you submit and it's benefits.

Others might have more information.

 

[Ash]

Hey guys, just a quick one. This was a helpful read - any of you have thoughts/input on affidavits to submit alongside witness statements? I have preliminary directions for appeal and within these the court asks for any affidavits/witness statements to include in addition. Just trying to get my head around the ‘affidavit’ part of this and if it’s worth submitting.

And when I say worth…. I mean is it necessary in family court. I’m a little confused by the word to be honest.

Also just seen this. And it goes back over a month. Where are you at now? Are you getting any legal help with the appeal? Off the top of my head it sounds like they are giving you the opportunity to present affidavits from others, as evidence, or witness statements from others. An affidavit would have more impact if sworn under oath, than say a witness statement from a friend with just a statement of truth.

It depends if it's relevant to your case, or if it's a standard terminology for all appeals whether for family court or not?

 

[bujanin]

Morning, I would like to see if anybody can advise me on how presenting witness statements works please.

I posted in another thread about a statement within a cafcass doc that says my daughters school have reported things about my behaviour that I think in the eyes of the judge will be unhelpful to my cause. In a recorded convo with the school they have confirmed that there has been no communication with cafcass and that no such things have been said to anybody.

There was a reply about presenting a witness statement and using the civil evidence act 1995. Hearsay vs Weight of evidence.

At what point should/can witness statements be given? I feel that this single point will have a huge baring on me being given unsupervised access to my daughter and I would like to be able to get the information across at Thursday's hearing, it's the second court hearing.

Any advice/thoughts will be muchly appreciated.

 

[Ash]

Witness statements can only be ordered by the court and that's usually before a final hearing. Your best option is to put, in a position statement, for the next hearing, that although Cafcass reported the Mother's claims about what the school had said, this is untrue, and the school have confirmed they said no such thing.

 

[bujanin]

Witness statements can only be ordered by the court and that's usually before a final hearing. Your best option is to put, in a position statement, for the next hearing, that although Cafcass reported the Mother's claims about what the school had said, this is untrue, and the school have confirmed they said no such thing.

Okay. Is there a generally accepted template for a position statement? It's too late to submit any extra paperwork at this stage I think so I will perhaps be able to present it on the day.

I will go now and do a search through the forums.

Thank you Ash

 

[bujanin]

Witness statements can only be ordered by the court and that's usually before a final hearing. Your best option is to put, in a position statement, for the next hearing, that although Cafcass reported the Mother's claims about what the school had said, this is untrue, and the school have confirmed they said no such thing.

Yes I've found the thread Position Statements - Delivery. Very helpful.

 

[Merlin836]

I know I'm thinking way ahead but I might try and prepare this (or some of it at least ) as I've struggled with the 'document' side of it .
When you provide evidence can you actually insert images of pics, text messages etc within the actual document itself or would you attach it within email .
I feel it would stand out more within the actual document although I appreciate it would up the page count so to speak