If you’re involved in a court case, you might have been told to prepare written evidence. There are three main ways of providing that evidence:
- Affidavits
- Statements
- Statutory Declarations
The type of evidence that you write will depend on your specific situation and any orders that have been made.
If no court case has been started, a statutory declaration can be used as evidence. If you are involved in a court case in the Local Court of NSW, statements are often used so that each party knows what evidence the other party has. If you are involved in a case in the District or Supreme Courts of NSW, or in some Federal Courts, affidavits, which contain sworn, written evidence, are often used.
Affidavits
An affidavit is a document that presents written evidence in a court case. It must be sworn to be true and correct in front of an authorised person, on oath or by affirmation. It is a serious crime to knowingly make a false statement.
Affidavits are similar to statutory declarations or witness statements in that they are used as ways of giving evidence.
The form of the Affidavit will depend on the type of legal proceedings. Each Court or Tribunal has their own prescribed form of Affidavits, and their own specific rules. All court websites have instructions on preparing Affidavits which you can refer to for more information.
Statements
A statement is written evidence which may be used to support a case, and must be signed and dated but does not have to be sworn like an affidavit. It can be witnessed but this isn’t always necessary.
Legal Aid NSW have a checklist for writing a legal statement which you can access here.
Statutory Declarations
A statutory declaration (also known as a stat dec) is a type of legal document that sets out facts that you declare to be true and accurate.
Statutory declarations can be used for many purposes and can be requested by a person, organisation or government agency.
Some common uses for statutory declarations include:
- visa applications
- insurance claims
- superannuation claims
- employment and leave applications
- legal evidence.
(SOURCE: Attorney-General’s Government Department).
Further Reading:
For more information on how to write each of the three types of written evidence, head to:
www.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au
And remember, if you need to put evidence in writing, you should always seek legal advice.
For further assistance, contact our friendly legal team here.
