Courts make decisions based on the law and on sworn testimony. Sworn testimony can be given as a witness, in-person in court, or in writing by Affidavit, depending on the situation. Courts can be faced with conflicting evidence about what has happened in a particular case. Some of the things that a court might consider in deciding between different versions of events include:
- Did the person giving the evidence contradict themselves by giving different accounts at different times?
- Is there detail to back-up what the person is saying?
- Is the person giving the evidence being evasive – i.e. attempting to avoid saying anything about certain issues?
Sworn Testimony
When evidence is submitted to the court in the form of an Affidavit or in-person by a witness, the person giving the evidence must swear an oath or affirmation that they are telling the truth. The difference between an oath and an affirmation is that an oath refers to God. People can choose to take an oath or an affirmation depending on their personal beliefs. It is a criminal offence, called perjury, to knowingly make false statements after taking an oath or affirming to tell the truth.
Affidavits must be signed in front of a Commissioner for Oaths or a Notary Public who will ask the person signing to take an oath or affirm that the contents of the Affidavit are true. The Commissioner for Oaths or Notary Public does not consider the content of the Affidavit or provide any advice about the case, You can look in the yellow pages to find a Commissioner for Oaths or a Notary Public. They will charge a fee for their service. You can also take your court documents to the Court of King‘s Bench where you will be filing them and staff at the court house will provide this service for free.
Witnesses who appear in court will be asked to swear an oath or affirm to tell the truth before they begin their testimony.
Giving Evidence
Evidence to support your case is either given by Affidavit or as a witness in court, depending on the circumstances. In both cases the following are important points to keep in mind:
- Tell the truth – It is a criminal offence to knowingly make a false statement.
- Base your statements on personal knowledge - if you are a witness you can generally only testify about things you have personal knowledge of, not about things you heard about from someone else. In an Affidavit you can include things the other party told you. In an Affidavit you can also, in some cases, include something that someone other than the other party has told you. You must say in your Affidavit that your information is based on what someone else told you and you must believe the information to be true. You must also say why that person cannot make their own Affidavit setting out this information.
- Include facts not opinions – Affidavits and witnesses provide the court with information about what has happened not about what the persons thinks or feels about what happened. If your Affidavit contains arguments or speculation the court can refuse to consider it. If you start arguing your case when you are being a witness the other side can object.
- Include all the relevant facts and don’t include information that is not relevant – If you include facts that are not relevant the court can refuse to accept all or part of your Affidavit. If you testify about things that are not relevant the other side can object.
- Be precise – avoid generalities and use names and exact dates. For example say “On November 1, 2013 John Smith left the children alone from 6 pm to 10 pm” instead of something like “he/she often leaves the children alone.”
- Make it easy to understand – when testifying or making an Affidavit use simple language and short sentences. Organize the facts (chronologically is usually best) so that your story is easy to follow.
- Keep it as short as you can – include all the relevant information without rambling or repeating.