Bundling witness statements
Witness statement should not be put in the bundle of documents.
There is a theoretical justification for this, but the main reason is convenience. ((The theoretical justification is that witness statements are a form of examination in chief, not documentary evidence.))
Witnesses will often be referred to documents in the bundle and when making submissions about witness evidence you will often move from the statement to the documents it talks about.
If the documents and statements are in the same bundle this involves a lot of flipping back and forth. Much easier to be able to keep the statement open in front of you while thumbing through the documents.
Hi can you advise I have just finished representing my sister in her claim for constructive dismissal the hearing lasted six days and today the witness for the respondant let slip that the had had access to the bundle and in fact had been told by the respondant to make themselves familure with it. We are due to go back in May for submissions – should the have been allowed access to the bundle