Witness Statement
 

Following a recent accident I have asked to write a witness statement.

Is there any official/formal guide or document which explains how a witness statement should be written? i.e. a particular order of topics?

Having looked on the AAIB website and web/forum searches I've not come across anything.

Many Thanks for any help.

I'm not aware of any specific advice on this. From a variety of accident investigations that I have been involved in my comments / suggestions would be;

Say where you were and what you were doing. Say - in the best order you can what you actually saw - not an interpretation, a commentry - just what you saw. If you did something then you'll have to weave that into your sequence of events. If you have any relevent skills mention them.

Far too many of the statements I have dealt with are full of assumptions and interpretation. That largely devalues them and makes anyone assessing them wary.

And of course most people have a position or viewpoint and that does tend to 'colour' their view of the events.

For the 'best' outcome i.e. one that aids the investigators to get to the most accurate interpretation just state what you saw. Don't worry that in many cases it is incomplete or only tells part of the story - that is nearly always the case. No one knows all the information about someone else's actions.

Anyone who gives me the complete story is almost guaranteed to making part of it up!

Is this a witness statement involving an aircraft ??
Witness statements should be taken by an appropriate authority ie the police or maybe even the AAIB .
They are generally required to present written evidence which may later be required in court.
They should be signed and dated and the signature should confirm an understanding of the legislation laid down in the relevant acts (criminal justice and magistrate courts act)
It is very rare , and in fact I have never heard of anyone completing one unaided with the exception of people like store detectives in the case of shoplifters .
They are normally taken by the authority and written for you .you then read, sign and agree correct .
There are many rules regarding evidence and admissibility of evidence and most of this will be missed if the author is not trained to be a statement taker.
Ask specifically exactly what the requestee wants from you and how they wish to go about it .Any probs pm me and I will try and help.
If you wish to look at a police witness statement form have a google search looking for police form MG11 there will e an example on here somewhere im sure.

remember please that when completed and signed it is NOT your property and you are legally not allowed a copy. Make sure you write it out in duplicate if you wish to remember what you said/wrote.

Yep thats one of the rules , you would however be given a copy prior to any appearance in court although this could be on the day .

Be very cautious in terms of 'what the requestee wants of you'. The advice given is sound - my point is that you must not over extend yourself - be that interpretation, opinion, whatever. Facts only.

If this is simply a description of what happen in a non-contentious situation then there are probably no issues. But in an aircraft context the CAA (or rather their enforcement chaps - usually retired plod) do not have a great reputation. What you saw and heard unless you are being asked in an 'expert role' in which case you shouldn't need advice!

Maxdry:

Did that once, and wasn't happy with the way I was 'questioned' (see the post above) as it went along. I will not give a statement again unless I write it myself.

CG

Well that is something you should have addressed there and then , or at least not signed it , if you signed it you must have agreed with what was written .Remember you cannot be forced to make a statement .
The problem with persons making their statements themselves is that if a court case is required most of their evidence is written of as inadmissable as it doesnt conform with the rules of evidence and then you lose the case or the potential evidence . You may not particualrly like the person taking your statement or the organisation for which they work , but as said it is voluntary and you can say what you want and do not have to sign anything .
Remember in court its your statement and your signature .
Read thoroughly what you have dictated and only sign it if you are happy

Maxdrypower,

Absolutely, but I was more deferential and naive back then. I was being led along by a policeman. Thankfully, it didn't go to court (though I did, as requested, only to be the only one they 'forgot' to tell about the adjournment).

CG

Lots of good advice...

Add to that: DO NOT say what you do not KNOW first hand.

Pilot DAR

Then whoever you asked, should arrange to take a statement from you! It is not normal to write your own statement unless you have been invited to act as an expert witness, in which case you will invariably be given documents, questions and other statements to comment upon.

If it is in relation to a small claim or insurance issue then there are numerous examples on the web.

The first question is who is asking for the statement. The form may differ depending on what it is to be used for. Statements for use in criminal proceedings have a fixed format in England, with a view to them being tendered in evidence at a trial. Statements for use in civil proceedings will not follow the same format. I suspect this is a "statement" similar to what the police now send out to witnesses because they have not got the man power to take a proper statement. You may find that if your account is relevant to any proceedings someone will come and take a more formal statement later.

statements should be expressed in the first person and only relate what you saw yourself. anything else is hearsay and should not be in the statement, unless it is something which someone told you which needs to be in to explain your own subsequent actions.

A word of warning: were you involved in the accident? If so, then depending on the circumstances you must be wary of incriminating yourself in the statement. If you think there is any chance that you may be in the firing line then don't give a statement without taking advice first.

at the early statges of a case or investigation that may be true. However, if being used in formal criminal proceedings the statement must have a declaration from the witness that he understands that if it is false and it is tendered in criminal proceedings he will be liable to a fine or imprisonment; in civil proceedings it requires to have a "statement of truth". I suspect that this is very early stages so what they are after is an initial account. However, if called upon to later make a more formal statement it is important that the two do not contradict each other as both will be discloseable in any proceedings.

The point about self incrimination still stands though, irrespective of the form of the statement.

I'm ex-plod (retired). PM me. I'll be happy to help you write it.

Cobby

Good advice here.

My tuppence:

1. List fact only and not opinion, a clear chronology of what you saw / your actions is needed.

2. Ask for AOPA's advice at an early stage, Martin Robinson is very helpful. Any pilot not a member should, IMHO join ASAP.

3. Only put in a statement what you are prepared to swear under oath as fact.


LF

Ex plod from years back, alsways remember the mantra for writing statements (witness) Place, Date, Time, I Was, I Saw, Idid!In other words, At the airfield on tues 23 March 2009 about 12.00 midday I was .........., when I saw.............. and as a consequence I did................Piece of cake - NOT

Accurate if rather naive.

I think you will find the witness statement must include a statement of truth in any event under civil rules.

naive , hmmmm I think not , unless of course the subject is weak minded or they really do use thumbscrews on you

Well obvioulsy you would think not, otherwise you would not have said it.

However there is plenty of evidence to suggest that witness statements are often not an accurate reflection of events, or, for that matter, a reflection of the account of the witness.

If they were I suppose examination of the witness would be redundant. :)

This is absolutely right. There has been research over the years about this. Most statements in criminal matters are written by police officers and tend to reflect what the officer wants them to say. I have cross examined many witnesses over the years on inconsistency between their statements and their oral evidence. Usually I found that the police wrote the statement and that the witness barely if at all read it before signing. Even if they know something is wrong they will ofton not want to argue the point with the police officer.

Interestingly, in Scotland, the defence always take their own statements from witnesses, even prosecution witnesses and statements given to the police cannot be used to cross examine a witness as the courts presume that it is written in the police's words and not the witnesses (if this procedure has changed I apologise to any Scotish lawyers who may be reading this!).