Requirement to serve bundle for use at trial

What's on Practical Law? Show less Show more. Ask a question. Related Content. A practical guide, for solicitors, regarding preparing trial bundles. Bundles for interim applications and appeals are outside the scope of this practice note. The advocate will wish to see quickly what documents are to be relied upon and, if necessary, draft a skeleton argument. This important preparatory work often has to be done in a very short time.

If you are not to be the advocate, try to think what information you would want available if you had to present the case the next day. If there is material that needs to be seen by the advocate but not by the court such as without prejudice offers , this should be included in a separate bundle for the eyes of the advocate only.

To assist the judge with pre-trial reading. You and the parties are entitled to expect the judge to be familiar with the case and indeed the judge will want to be. But reading time is limited, and the judge will not have time to put a poorly prepared bundle in order. So deliver the bundle to the court in good time. Ensure that the date of the trial and the case number are marked clearly on your covering letter and on the spine or front outside cover of the lever-arch file s comprising the bundle.

If the documentation is particularly voluminous, consider creating a separate core bundle containing the most important documents, or at least a reading list directing the judge to those documents it is vital to read before the case starts. Delivering several lever-arch files containing hundreds of pages late in the afternoon before the trial is not a recipe for judicial approval.

The importance of the case summary, chronology and schedule of issues cannot be overstated. The greatest compliment you can receive is for the judge to quote in his judgment from one or more of these documents. The bundle should read like a book so that the story unfolds, as it will in court.

In ancillary relief cases, it is obligatory to include in the bundle a draft or summary of the order sought see paragraph 4. It will often be useful to include this in other types of case so that the advocate can refer to it when making submissions to the judge.

To enable the hearing to proceed smoothly and expeditiously. Make sure there are copies of the bundle available for witnesses and your opponent which should have been delivered well in advance. Witness statements will invariably stand as their evidence in chief, and witnesses will be asked to confirm the truth of their statements in the bundle.

Public Law Project is appealing to the first-tier tribunal the ICO's decision not to uphold its complaint. The court will direct what is to happen to the back-up recording. Some countries may require that any oath or affirmation to be taken by a witness accord with local custom rather than the usual form of oath or affirmation used in England and Wales. The VCF arranging party must make all appropriate prior inquiries and put in place all arrangements necessary to enable the oath or affirmation to be taken in accordance with any local custom.

That party must be in a position to inform the court what those inquiries were, what their outcome was and what arrangements have been made. If the oath or affirmation can be administered in the manner normal in England and Wales, the VCF arranging party must arrange in advance to have the appropriate holy book at the remote site. The associate will normally administer the oath. Consideration will need to be given in advance to the documents to which the witness is likely to be referred.

The parties should endeavour to agree on this. It will usually be most convenient for a bundle of the copy documents to be prepared in advance, which the VCF arranging party should then send to the remote site. Additional documents are sometimes quite properly introduced during the course of a witness's evidence. To cater for this, the VCF arranging party should ensure that equipment is available to enable documents to be transmitted between sites during the course of the VCF transmission.

Consideration should be given to whether to use a document camera. If it is decided to use one, arrangements for its use will need to be established in advance. The panel operator will need to know the number and size of documents or objects if their images are to be sent by document camera.

In many cases, a simpler and sufficient alternative will be to ensure that there are fax transmission and reception facilities at the participating sites.

The procedure for conducting the transmission will be determined by the judge. He will determine who is to control the cameras. In cases where the VCF is being used for an application in the course of the proceedings, the judge will ordinarily not enter the local site until both sites are on line.

Similarly, at the conclusion of the hearing, he will ordinarily leave the local site while both sites are still on line. The following paragraphs apply primarily to cases where the VCF is being used for the taking of the evidence of a witness at a remote site. In all cases, the judge will need to decide whether court dress is appropriate when using VCF facilities.

It might be appropriate when transmitting from courtroom to courtroom. It might not be when a commercial facility is being used. At the beginning of the transmission, the judge will probably wish to introduce himself and the advocates to the witness. He will probably want to know who is at the remote site and will invite the witness to introduce himself and anyone else who is with him. He may wish to give directions as to the seating arrangements at the remote site so that those present are visible at the local site during the taking of the evidence.

He will probably wish to explain to the witness the method of taking the oath or of affirming, the manner in which the evidence will be taken, and who will be conducting the examination and cross-examination. He will probably also wish to inform the witness of the matters referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 above co-ordination of picture with sound, and picture quality.

The examination of the witness at the remote site should follow as closely as possible the practice adopted when a witness is in the courtroom. During examination, cross-examination and re-examination, the witness must be able to see the legal representative asking the question and also any other person whether another legal representative or the judge making any statements in regard to the witness's evidence. It will in practice be most convenient if everyone remains seated throughout the transmission.

For information regarding evidence by deposition see Part 34 and Practice Direction 34A. Back to top Heading 3. Back to top Body of affidavit 4. Back to top Jurat 5. Back to top Format of affidavits 6. Back to top Inability of Deponent to read or sign affidavit 7. Back to top Alterations to affidavits 8.

Back to top Who may administer oaths and take affidavits 9. Back to top Filing of affidavits Back to top Letters Back to top Other documents Back to top Exhibits other than documents Back to top General provisions Back to top Body of witness statement Back to top Format of witness statement Back to top Statement of Truth Back to top 21 Omitted Alterations to witness statements Back to top Filing of witness statements