witness statements

[Golliwog]

I am the claimant in a civil litigation. I have just received witness statements from the defendants and have an issue I would like some advice on.
The witness statements have been presented in what I think is the wrong format. The statements consist of:
Name of witness and relationship to one of the defendants, followed by a statement which is signed at the end. Retrospectively a front page has been added which contains a sort of statement of truth but is not signed.
Is this permissible in court or can it be rejected?
I it can be rejected, what forms do I need to submit to the court?:beagle:

[Amethyst]

Re: witness statements

The actual witness statement is signed by the person making it? It is likely to be valid if so. It does sound a bit of an arse about face way of doing it as the witness could simply have handwritten the statement of truth at the end before the witness signature if they had forgotten it, but its likely more honest to have done so in the way they have.
Is there any reason why you'd want the witness statements to be excluded - it is likely, particularly if they don't have legal rep, that the judge would simply order them to be done in the proper format so you wouldn't really gain a lot by asking for them to be struck out.

In the directions questionnaires had the defendant stated more than one witness ?
Is the case fast / multitrack or small claims?

[Golliwog]

Re: witness statements

The witnesses have no knowledge of the separately attached front page with the statement of truth

[Amethyst]

Re: witness statements

Okay. In that case they haven't actually signed a statement of truth at all. In that case you could make an application to the court ( form N244 - fee likely £100 as it shouldn't need a hearing ) Likely outcome the statements will have to be rewritten and verified properly and you should get your costs of the application awarded.

Were these submitted by a solicitor or by a litigant in person ?



CPR wise ( as I'm sure you know already)

CPR 22

Failure to verify a witness statement

22.3 If the maker of a witness statement fails to verify the witness statement by a statement of truth the court may direct that it shall not be admissible as evidence.

Power of the court to require a document to be verified

22.4

(1) The court may order a person who has failed to verify a document in accordance with rule 22.1 to verify the document.

(2) Any party may apply for an order under paragraph (1).


PD 22

Consequences of failure to verify

4.1 If a statement of case is not verified by a statement of truth, the statement of case will remain effective unless it is struck out5, but a party may not rely on the contents of a statement of case as evidence until it has been verified by a statement of truth.

4.2 Any party may apply to the court for an order that unless within such period as the court may specify the statement of case is verified by the service of a statement of truth, the statement of case will be struck out.

4.3 The usual order for the costs of an application referred to in paragraph 4.2 will be that the costs be paid by the party who had failed to verify in any event and forthwith.

[Golliwog]

Re: witness statements

the statements were submitted by a litigant in person, however as one witness has also provided a statement for us in support of our claim, I know that the 'front page' has been added without consulting the witnesses.
This claim has been fast tracked as the defendants have stated that it is fraudulent, however there is no information in any statement or any other documents to support this. Most of the contents of the statements are emotional statements not relating to the facts of the claim and are intended to hurt rather than provide substance to the claim.
is there any point to submitting an N244 form if the court is unlikely to strike the evidence out?