Keep a trial witness statement in the witness's own words
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- Index the proof of evidence and the documents for the lawyer. Write no part of the statement, including its list of documents.
- What the lawyer must review
- The statement must be in the witness's own words where practicable (Practice Direction 32 para 18.1). In the Business and Property Courts it may contain only matters of fact within the witness's personal knowledge and must list the documents referred to (PD 57AC paras 3.1 and 3.2), with a statement of truth and the PD 57AC confirmation (para 4.1). Do not influence the substance of evidence (SRA Code para 2.2).
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. Potential support includes extracting and organising information. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Confirm each factual assertion with the witness and original record. Preserve the witness’s own knowledge and words, and check the court’s rules for this document.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affidavit (Federal Court Form 59): form rules, annexures and GPN-AI limits on AI in evidence | Form | AI use Red | Link to the Federal Court's Form 59 with a guide to the form rules in r 29.02 (first person, numbered paragraphs, annexures, pagination, signatures) and the GPN-AI rules on AI in affidavits. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.