Another English legal system thread!
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Another English legal system thread! Following on from my one on settlements (https://nondeterministic.computer/@mjg59/116303125691364336) let's talk about evidence. There's rules about this as well (https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part32), but the short version is that any evidence someone will testify to must be provided in the form of a written witness statement that is provided to the other side before the trial. In general a witness will not be allowed to give evidence that isn't present in their witness statement.
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Another English legal system thread! Following on from my one on settlements (https://nondeterministic.computer/@mjg59/116303125691364336) let's talk about evidence. There's rules about this as well (https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part32), but the short version is that any evidence someone will testify to must be provided in the form of a written witness statement that is provided to the other side before the trial. In general a witness will not be allowed to give evidence that isn't present in their witness statement.
One obvious consequence of this is that if you don't provide a witness statement, you can't provide evidence at trial. This is true even if you're directly involved in the case. So, if you intend to offer evidence, it's vital to write a witness statement (which is purely a description of what you know that's relevant to the case), attach a statement of truth, and send it to everyone involved by the date provided at the Case Management Conference
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One obvious consequence of this is that if you don't provide a witness statement, you can't provide evidence at trial. This is true even if you're directly involved in the case. So, if you intend to offer evidence, it's vital to write a witness statement (which is purely a description of what you know that's relevant to the case), attach a statement of truth, and send it to everyone involved by the date provided at the Case Management Conference
The usual approach is for both sides to hand over their witness statements simultaneously, in order to avoid the situation where someone is able to read someone else's witness statement and modify their own. These days this seems to be "We will provide you with a large encrypted file beforehand so you have plenty of time to download it, and then we will arrange a time to swap passwords", which does simplify things a little.
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The usual approach is for both sides to hand over their witness statements simultaneously, in order to avoid the situation where someone is able to read someone else's witness statement and modify their own. These days this seems to be "We will provide you with a large encrypted file beforehand so you have plenty of time to download it, and then we will arrange a time to swap passwords", which does simplify things a little.
@mjg59 (I think the thread was accidentally broken – continues here: https://nondeterministic.computer/@mjg59/116308018011752512)
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One obvious consequence of this is that if you don't provide a witness statement, you can't provide evidence at trial. This is true even if you're directly involved in the case. So, if you intend to offer evidence, it's vital to write a witness statement (which is purely a description of what you know that's relevant to the case), attach a statement of truth, and send it to everyone involved by the date provided at the Case Management Conference
But this goes against the plot of (checks notes) every legal drama TV show and movie ever!
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The usual approach is for both sides to hand over their witness statements simultaneously, in order to avoid the situation where someone is able to read someone else's witness statement and modify their own. These days this seems to be "We will provide you with a large encrypted file beforehand so you have plenty of time to download it, and then we will arrange a time to swap passwords", which does simplify things a little.
And I'm an idiot so the rest of the thread is here: https://nondeterministic.computer/@mjg59/116308018011752512
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@mjg59 (I think the thread was accidentally broken – continues here: https://nondeterministic.computer/@mjg59/116308018011752512)
@LucasWerkmeister Yup, thank you!
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But this goes against the plot of (checks notes) every legal drama TV show and movie ever!
@mattdm To be fair, different jurisdictions take very different approaches to this
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The usual approach is for both sides to hand over their witness statements simultaneously, in order to avoid the situation where someone is able to read someone else's witness statement and modify their own. These days this seems to be "We will provide you with a large encrypted file beforehand so you have plenty of time to download it, and then we will arrange a time to swap passwords", which does simplify things a little.
@mjg59 it sounds like there's good money to be made from unscrupulous lawyers (shush now) by someone with a box full of GPUs and a working knowledge of hashcat.
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
