Employment Tribunal Witness Statement Help

Button12

Afternoon all,

Sorry if the following sounds naive, I’ve never done anything like this and I am representing myself and a little overwhelmed.

I am currently writing my witness statement and I am a little confused as to when questions towards the respondent and their Bundle need to be asked?
Do I query details in my statement or leave them until the hearing?

Also, do I need to note in my statement my exact/detailed reasons for unfair dismissal/disability discrimination or again leave these points out until the hearing? The reason for asking this is that the Respondent will see my statement before the hearing therefore giving them time to prepare thier answers.

Thanks in advance!

TadleyBaggie

I presume related to this thread?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5452477

sangie595

Button12 wrote: »

Afternoon all,

Sorry if the following sounds naive, I’ve never done anything like this and I am representing myself and a little overwhelmed.

I am currently writing my witness statement and I am a little confused as to when questions towards the respondent and their Bundle need to be asked?
Do I query details in my statement or leave them until the hearing?

Also, do I need to note in my statement my exact/detailed reasons for unfair dismissal/disability discrimination or again leave these points out until the hearing? The reason for asking this is that the Respondent will see my statement before the hearing therefore giving them time to prepare thier answers.

Thanks in advance!

Your statement is a statement of your case. What happened, when it happened, who was involved. Asking the respondent questions, or them asking you questions, happens at the tribunal. There's an example of one here - http://www.lrdpublications.org.uk/downloads/WitnessStatement.pdf

Employment tribunals are not secretive - both sides should see the others documents before the hearing. So there is no holding something back to surprise them with at the hearing.

If you don't mind me asking - how do you think you will conduct a tribunal hearing if you don't know how to look up a witness statement on Google? You need to really up your game in terms of learning about them if you are to stand any chance against an employer and their lawyers. The panel won't do this for you, and there are protocols. No matter how simple they may make it for you, they will not do the case for you, and it isn't as simple as write a statement and then ask the other side questions.

Is this related to the previous posts you made?

steampowered

I'd suggest following the structure and approach of the statement sangie linked you to.

The general rule is that witness statements need to be detailed and need to include all the relevant facts.

I suggest that you avoid too much argument with the respondent in your witness statement. The purpose of the witness statement is to state what you say happened rather than getting into a "he said she said" type discussion.

You are the person making a claim. The burden of proof is on you. You need to set out the facts of what happened, and the basis of your claim.

Try not to focus on "disproving" what the respondent said. You need to prove that you have a valid claim, rather than proving that what the respondent says is incorrect. It is best to focus on giving your side of the story by simply stating what happened.

Also, do I need to note in my statement my exact/detailed reasons for unfair dismissal/disability discrimination or again leave these points out until the hearing?

Yes. Everything needs to go in the statement in detail. If you deliberately leave things out you may find you are barred from raising them in evidence at the hearing.

The reason for asking this is that the Respondent will see my statement before the hearing therefore giving them time to prepare thier answers.

The usual order is for both sides to exchange witness statements at the same time. So you should get their witness statements at the same time they get yours.

Realistically, the other side will be prepared for the hearing in any event and will have already come up with answers to the likely questions whatever your statement says. So there isn't much merit in holding things back.

jobbingmusician

The thread at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1462615 is now quite old, but still has some helpful pointers about preparing a statement and chronology which are unlikely ever to go out of date!