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| Tips for witnesses
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- Make sure that you are happy with your witness statement. Remember that you will give this evidence on oath – if you are not satisfied that it is the truth or you feel uncomfortable, do not agree to it.
- Make sure you are familiar with your statement – practice reading it out loud before the hearing.
- Familiarise yourself with the bundle, particularly documents that you wrote or saw at the time.
- Think about what may be asked of you in cross-examination and discuss these with your representative. How did you reach decisions? Are there any inconsistencies or areas of weakness? How will you answer questions on these?
- Dress conservatively.
- Be polite and refer to the Chairman as Sir or Madam.
- Speak clearly and loudly.
- Don’t speak too quickly – watch the Chairman’s pen and wait for this to catch up with what you are saying.
- Direct your answers to the Chairman – not to the person asking you the question.
- Listen to the question carefully, think before you speak and answer the question you were asked.
- Don’t volunteer information, especially when being cross-examined.
- If you can’t answer the question, say so – don’t guess or you will be caught out.
- However, take care not to appear evasive.
- If you don’t understand the question, if it is too long or if it contains several questions, ask for it to be clarified.
- Do not refuse to answer a question or say “no comment”. You must answer the questions asked of you. If the question is inappropriate, the Chairman or your representative will step in.
- Once you are giving evidence, you are on your own. Don’t ask for clarification from your representative or anyone else attending the hearing.
Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated. Answer the question put to you. If you are prevented from doing so, the Chairman or your representative should intervene.
- Don’t make jokes.
- Don’t lose your temper or be rude or sarcastic. If you are being cross-examined by the Claimant (because he doesn’t have a representative), don’t patronise him.
- Always tell the truth and don’t go into too much detail – otherwise you may be tripped up by the other side’s representative.
- If the hearing is adjourned for a break, at lunch or the end of the day and you have not finished giving evidence, you must not speak to anyone about the case before returning to continue giving evidence.
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