Witnesses give evidence on oath in sentencing hearings quite commonly in the higher courts. It virtually never happens in the Magistrates' Court.One reason for this (it might be suggested) is the time constraints of the summary jurisdiction. I don't think that's why. Magistrates often go to great lengths to learn more about an offender when …
Tag: advocacy
The quality of your argument is not improved by its duration
We haven't done a post about oral advocacy for a while.It's a shame, because advocacy is - or should be - an essential part of legal practice, in one form or another. I guess it's hard (nay, impossible) to say something about it that hasn't already been said. By someone else. Better.So, putting aside any …
Continue reading The quality of your argument is not improved by its duration
The law of unintended consequences
The Judicial College's Charge Book has this to say about the assessment of witnesses (at 1.6.1.5):It is generally a misdirection to tell the jury that if they think a witness has an interest in the outcome, they should scrutinise their evidence closely. This is because the jury will likely conclude that the accused has the …
Cross-examining a witness – right?
Simple questions are the best form of questions to ask in chief or cross. There are exceptions, but they're rare.Given that, it's funny that English and Australian courtrooms often feature long repetitious stanzas of mixed positives and negatives.ExamplesADVOCATE: You went to the storeroom, didn't you?WITNESS: Yes.ADVOCATE: You didn't go anywhere else, did you?WITNESS: No.Listening to …
Written advocacy gets a fillip
The Commercial Court recently hosted a workshop on legal writing by well-known writer and lecturer Bryan Garner. I hoped to attend, but couldn't make it. Shame really, because the opportunity to see Garner first-hand without needing to travel to the USA probably won't come along for a while.Garner is the current author of Black's Law …