Lawyers have been asked to complete a short survey on factual witness evidence in the business and property courts, as part of a review being led by Mr Justice Popplewell
The working group conducting the review includes court users from industry, the judiciary, the arbitration community and the legal professions. They will look at what parts of the current witness statement procedure works well and what parts could be improved.
It takes no more than ten minutes to complete the survey, at: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GJ77BFL. Responses must be submitted by 23 November 2018.
Explaining the background to the survey, working group member John Kimbell QC, said: ‘Judges in the business and property courts are not only routinely confronted by excessively long witness statements but then have to sit through equally long cross-examination on those statements.’
Kimbell, who is a barrister, Deputy High Court Judge and Rechtsanwalt (Germany), continued: ‘Many cross-examiners feel obliged to challenge each and every paragraph of a witness statement.
‘As a result, some judges have found themselves being favourably impressed by the fresh, concise and more powerful oral evidence they hear when sitting in criminal trials. So, the question now is how to proceed from here.’
