Witness Box
The Art of Giving Evidence
Why?
Being called to give evidence is a very daunting, even intimidating prospect and the thought of it fills some with dread, going so far as to suffer anxiety and panic attacks. Others may brim with confidence, perhaps over-confidence, all of which can lead to poor performance in the box. Remember, this is a very serious gig and being prepared is everything, right down to your speech and body language.
Being completely prepared and familiar with the whole process is vital if you are to be a credible witness and our training will do just that for you. We deliver strategies to enable you to enter the witness box with confidence and to exit safely having endured the rigours of cross-examination.
We call it The Art of Giving Evidence and together we will explore and lay bare the processes, to help you understand your role, how to withstand cross-examination and present your evidence in a way that is credible, consistent, truthful and verifiable.
“I have taken some time to deal with these criticisms in that it was clear that there was a root and branch attack on this witness. Having looked at each of the criticisms I am not persuaded they are well founded” (Lord Bannantyne, Court of Sessions, Edinburgh, in relation to a lengthy cross-examination of Trevor).
Our training will give you as close an experience as possible to what it is like to be crossexamined in a formal setting by a leading barrister who will test your evidence.
Co-tutor, Stephen Harvey KC, has considerable experience in the cross-examination of witnesses, both lay and expert, and it is this unique combination no other training provider can deliver.
Trevor and Stephen combine to provide an unbeatable perspective of the Art of Giving Evidence to ensure you give the very best evidence you possibly can.
Witness familiarisation
A real mouthful, it’s so much easier to say witness training, but is it allowed? Unlike ‘witness coaching’, which is strictly prohibited, witness familiarisation is an encouraged, acceptable method of preparing witnesses for court. Our courses comply with guidelines set out under UK case law [R v Momodou & Limani 2005] and The Bar Code of Conduct.
What we will not do
While there is nothing objectionable in witness familiarisation which gives an introduction to the theory, practice and procedure of giving evidence, as it is a common experience that anxious witnesses are given general guidance on how to behave in court, a witness must not be coached or trained in matters that are live or pertinent to the witness.
Therefore, any tutoring including mock cross-examinations must not be based on facts which are the same as or similar to those of any current or impending trial, hearing or proceedings at which a course participant is likely to be a witness.