Letter: Witnesses: must do better

I and my wife, on the evening of 17 November 2012, left a wedding reception in Melbourne, Australia. One reason for our reluctantly leaving early was that I had been served with a witness citation to a proof in the Court of Session on 20 November.

The agent for the defenders had advised me in June 2011 that the court had fixed a hearing for 20-23 and 27-30 November 2012. I had arranged our travel to Australia accordingly, but to secure flights that would meet the court’s timetable had to incur additional expense. My wife would also miss her sister’s birthday in Melbourne on 18 November.

On 20 November I wearily arrived at Parliament House, to be advised by the attendant at the door that she could not find the court for the case. No court had been allocated; and I was then told that my evidence would not be required until the following Tuesday. The defenders’ agent subsequently wrote explaining that the court was not able to provide a judge in November, and a new hearing had been fixed, commencing 19 February 2013, now with three weeks allocated.

I am writing this letter from the perspective of a lay person receiving his first witness citation, to emphasise the disruption caused by it, made that much worse by an abortive diet.

When a diet is aborted in this way, compensation should be paid to parties and witnesses. The wording of witness citations could helpfully be improved by adding a phrase such as: “or such later date intimated to you in writing following receipt of this citation”. It would be useful if a justification document had to be provided with a witness citation, setting out the reasons for it, and a statement clearly setting out what expenses incurred by a witness will be repaid and when.

The extent of the upset, cost and inconvenience to us may not be typical, but improvements to aspects of this particular judicial process are surely necessary.