Annex B

Affidavits

June 2014

1 Affidavit

An affidavit is a written, sworn statement of evidence. Evidence must be given by affidavit if this is required by the court or by any other rule or enactment. The CPR will generally allow evidence to be by a witness statement verified by a statement of truth (see paragraph 19.88) which does not have to be sworn. There is nothing to prevent a witness giving evidence by affidavit in a case where it is not a requirement, but the party may not recover the additional cost of making it from any other party unless the court orders  

2 Preparation of an affidavit

The official receiver in preparing an affidavit in support of an application should prepare it in accordance with the requirements set out in CPR Practice Direction 32 - Evidence.

3 The form of the affidavit

The affidavit should be headed with the title of the proceedings. At the top right hand corner of the first page (and on the back sheet) there should clearly be written:  

• the party on whose behalf it is made;
• the initials and surname of the deponent;
• the number of the affidavit in relation to that deponent;
• the identifying initials and number of each affidavit referred to; and
• the date sworn [Note 1].

4 The deponent’s evidence and declaration

The affidavit must be in the deponent's (the person who is giving evidence by affidavit) own words and should be expressed in the first person. The affidavit should commence 'I (full name) of (address) state on oath…’, and if the official receiver is giving evidence in his/her professional capacity the office address should be provided, together with the position held [Note 2].

5 The source of the deponent’s evidence

An affidavit must indicate:  

• which of the statements made in it are made from the deponent's own knowledge and which are matters of information or belief, and
• the source of any matters of belief [Note 3].

6 Exhibits to affidavits

Exhibits should be produced and verified by the deponent and remain separate from the affidavit and should be identified by a declaration of the person before whom the affidavit was sworn. The first page of each exhibit should be marked in the same way as the affidavit and with the exhibit mark referred to in the affidavit [Note 4].

7 Referring to exhibits in an affidavit

Where a deponent:  

• refers to an exhibit or exhibits, he/she should state 'there is now shown to me marked …. the (description of exhibit)', and
• makes more than one affidavit (to which there are exhibits) in the same proceedings, the numbering of exhibits should run consecutively throughout and not start again with each affidavit [Note 5]. 

8 Jurat of an affidavit

The jurat of an affidavit is a statement set at the end of the document which authenticates the affidavit [Note 6]. The jurat must:  

• be signed by all deponents;
• be completed and signed by the person before whom the affidavit was sworn, whose name and qualification must be printed beneath his/her signature;
• contain the full address of the person before whom the affidavit was sworn; and
• follow immediately on from the text and not be put on a separate page [Note 7].

9 Presentation of an affidavit

An affidavit should:  

• be produced on durable A4 paper with a 3.5cm margin;
• be fully legible and should be typed on one side of the paper only;
• where possible, it should be bound securely in a manner which will not hamper filing, or otherwise each page should be endorsed with the case number and should bear the initials of the deponent and of the person before whom it was sworn;
• have the pages numbered consecutively as a separate document (or as one of several documents contained in a file);
• be divided into numbered paragraphs;
• have all numbers, including dates, expressed in figures; and
• give in the margin, or in bold text in the body of the affidavit, the reference to any document or documents mentioned [Note 8].

It is usually convenient for an affidavit to follow the chronological sequence of events or matters dealt with. Each paragraph of an affidavit should, as far as possible, be confined to a distinct portion of the subject [Note 9].

10 Alterations to affidavits

Any alteration to an affidavit must be initialled by both the deponent and the person before whom the affidavit is sworn. An affidavit which contains an alteration that has not been initialled may be filed or used in evidence only with the permission of the court. The official receiver should draw the attention of the court to any corrections that have not been initialled [Note 10].

11 Use of affidavit evidence

The court may, on the application of any party, order the attendance for cross-examination of the person giving evidence by affidavit. Where, after such an order has been made, the person in question does not attend, his/her evidence may not be used without the permission of the court [Note 11]. Where the official receiver knows that the person making the affidavit is unavailable, for example due to maternity leave, he/she should contact the court to ensure that affidavit evidence may be used.