Special Types of Practice: Court Trials & Appeal Courts - Guides
Court Trials & Appeal Courts
9. Other Witnesses
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 18 Jul 2015
- Once the first prosecution or plaintiff witness has gone through examination-in-chief and potentially cross-examination and re-examination, the next prosecution or plaintiff witness is called to do the same.
- This process is repeated for every prosecution or plaintiff witness until there are none left to be called.
- The same process will then commence for the defendant’s witnesses in exactly the same way until there are none left to be called.
- Usually only one witness needs to be called to establish any element which needs to be proven in the running of a case. A case may have many elements that need to be proven so many witnesses may need to be called. Sometimes one witness can help to prove more than one element.
- As long as enough witnesses are called to prove all the elements that go together to form a party’s case the fewer witnesses the better. To call too many witnesses risks confusing the court and slowing down the trial unnecessarily. Too many means more than one competent witness to prove the same point.
- You should consider your potential witnesses carefully and choose those who are the most credible, have the strongest story and are best at speaking in public and staying calm under pressure.
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