Going to court as a witness

Wait patiently until you are brought into the courtroom to give evidence.

Discuss anything you said or heard in court with other witnesses.

Remain silent and behave decently at all times.

Post any details about the case on social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook.

1. Examination-in-chief

• The party who issued you the summons to a witness, served on you an order to attend court, a subpoena or an order to produce documents will ask you to introduce yourself to the court with your full name, age and occupation. 
• They will ask open-ended questions for you to tell the court what you know about the case in your own words.
• They may refer to various documents, and ask you questions about these documents.

2. Cross-examination

• The other party may ask you more direct, closed questions to challenge what you have said during the examination-in-chief.
  • "Do you agree or disagree?" is an example of the type of question that may be asked.
  • You should answer the questions directly and if necessary, you can explain but avoid going off-topic.
• They may also refer to documents, and ask you questions about these documents.

3. Re-examination

The party who asked you questions in examination-in-chief may ask you more questions to clarify the answers given during cross-examination.

Address the judge as 'Your Honour' before giving him your answers.

Be disrespectful to the judge or any person in court.

Keep calm and be polite.

Argue or get upset by any question or person.
You can ask the judge for time to calm down, if necessary.

Speak slowly and clearly so that everyone understands you.

Rush through your answers or mumble when speaking.

Tell the truth.

Lie in court. You may be committing a crime by lying and may be prosecuted later.

Ask for questions to be repeated if you did not hear it clearly.

Assume what is being asked if you did not hear it clearly.

Ask for words or terms to be explained if you do not understand them.

Answer questions you do not fully understand.

Ask for questions to be broken up into parts if you are not sure what exactly is being asked.

Give an answer without first thinking it through.

Reply "yes" or "no".

Nod or shake your head.

Say "I do not know", if you do not know the answer.

Give answers based on what someone else told you.

Say "I am not sure" if you are not sure.

Guess. You should be sure your answers are based on what you actually saw or heard.

Say "I cannot remember" if you cannot remember.

Give answers based on what you think probably happened.

Provide answers which are simple, factual and to the point.

Joke, or give unnecessary or irrelevant information.

Ask the judge for more time to read a document before answering questions about it, if necessary.

Read through a document and answer questions about it without fully understanding its contents.

Ask the judge for a break after giving evidence for some time.

Continue giving evidence when you are feeling unwell or tired.

Spell out any names or unusual terms.

Mispronounce words as it may confuse the court.

Make sure your mobile device is switched off.

Use your mobile device while giving evidence.