On 6 April 2020 amendments to Civil Procedure Rules (the ‘CPR’), Practice Directions (‘PD’) 22 and 32 come into effect, pursuant to the 113th update to the CPR. The amendments introduce changes to the wording of Statements of Truth and add a new provision into the PD dealing with the contents of witness statements.
The Witness Evidence Working Group Report
The changes come as a result of a recent report of the Witness Evidence Working Group available on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website. The report voiced various concerns regarding the preparation process of witness statements and the fact that they were often ‘ineffective in performing their core function of achieving best evidence at proportionate cost’.
The Working Group found that the supposed cost savings resulting from using witness statements instead of oral evidence in chief in many cases simply do not materialise. This is because the witness statement phase of the pre-trial process often proves lengthy and costly. The report emphasized that the practice of relying on witness statements effectively resulted in frontloading of costs which inhibits, rather than promotes, settlement.
The process of preparation of witness statements often involves multiple drafts and revisions prepared over a period of time. Sometimes the final product is far from the witness’s own words. Practitioners who help draw up and edit witness statements sometimes lack in-depth sector-specific knowledge. Witness statements, as prepared up until now, also provided opportunities for inclusion of irrelevant details.
The report has therefore recommended that any witness statement should be restricted to the evidence the witness would give if examined-in-chief and should only include the witness’s own words. This is, in fact, no more than a reminder of what was meant to happen when the requirement for witness statements was first introduced in civil proceedings. A recommendation was also made for expanding the statement of truth, now reflected in the amendments to PD 22.
Changes to CRP PD 22 and PD 32
From 6 April 2020, the following wording will be added to the current wording of Statements of Truth (amendment to PD 22):
I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.
The change applies to any document that must be verified by a Statements of Truth such as a witness statement, statements of case, an acknowledgement of service in a claim begun by the Part 8 procedure or a certificate of service.
Pursuant to the amendments to PD 32, from 6 April 2020 any witness statement must also state the process by which it has been prepared, for example face-to-face, over the telephone, and/or through an interpreter.
It remains to be seen if the changes coming into effect on 6 April 2020 will have the desired effect of making witness statements shorter and ensuring that a witness only deals in their statement with matters which are within their own knowledge.
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