[Solved] Submitting Evidence at court date

Hi

As you are a LIP...I would wait till you go into Court..It actually will state that unless something is requested via the Court nothing else is to be Submittied

Remember this is not about he said ,she said...Most Judges are not interested in this..Its about your Child having a Meaningful Relationship with Both Parents.

If its Mentioned about Whatever it is your Ex is trying to imply then that would be the Appropriate time to produce your evidence.

I wouldn't mention the Little Mistakes ..Just point them out on the Day..

As your ex has a solicitor, they should compile a 'bundle' for the final hearing which you should be invited to contribute to and agree the contents of, here is a link to the practise direction;

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/practice_directions/pd_part_27a

it's up to you if you wish to submit this evidence to the bundle.

Mom24 is correct that ordinarily it will say somewhere on your directions that you are not permitted to submit further paperwork, however, as a LIP you can get away with a lot more than solicitors can. Provided there are not reams of the text messages, you can compose a very short position statement detailing any events since your statement of evidence was filed and attach these texts to the statement. Alternatively you can refer to the evidence in your PS indicating that you have copies with you. You can give this statement to the usher when you check in. There are no fast rules but this is usually accepted.

You can say something like 'I realise I do not have leave to submit a statement for today's hearing however I feel it will assist the court that my position is laid out in writing'

If it is a fully contested final hearing you might be expected to cross examine your ex so it's worth preparing some questions based on her statement.

Here are some copied and pasted cross examination tips;

Keep a careful note You will not be able to write down everything a witness says but, if you can, write down short notes on the answers they give. If you have a #McKenzie Friend with you, it is easier for them to take notes for you. If the witness says something important, write it down word for word. It is helpful to remind the judge of the words used later and to use them to make an argument when making your closing submissions

Do not comment on the answers given When the witness has given their answer, move on. It can be tempting to say “Aha!” or “That’s right”. Remember, you are only supposed to be putting your case.

Ask closed questions When #cross-examining a witness, it is best to ask closed questions and leading questions. This usually means questions with a yes/no answer, This means you can lead a witness up a path where you want them to go. When you ask open questions, the witness has time to think of answers and you can forget what path you are going up.

For example:

Don’t ask:
Where would you live in Australia?

Do ask:
You haven’t found anywhere to live in Australia, have you?

Only ask one thing at a time - Try not to string your questions together into one long question. It is too difficult for the witness to answer lots of questions at once. Only ask about one fact at a time.
For example:

Don’t ask:
You haven’t found anywhere to live in Australia or a school for Peter because you haven’t given any thought to Peter’s future have you?

Do ask:
You haven’t found anywhere to live in Australia have you? No
You have not got a school place for Peter have you? No
So you have not given any consideration to Peter’s future in Australia have you?
These are not carefully thought out plans are they? No

Ask about any inconsistencies At times, a witness can say inconsistent things in different statements or make different comments to, for example, a # CAFCASS officer. (suggesting that one of the statements is wrong), or there will be evidence or a document which contradicts their statement. When you are #preparing your cross-examination, check all of the other side’s documents for mistakes like that. If the contradiction seems important, make sure you ask the witness about it. When you do this, make sure you have written down the page and paragraph numbers of the contradictory statements. Ask them which statement is true.
Then say to them why you think one statement must be untrue.

For example:

Please look at page ten, in the second paragraph. Yes

You said that you have found several properties to rent, didn’t you? Yes

Then look at the CAFCASS report at page 46, third paragraph. Yes

You said that you have not found anywhere to live in Australia, didn’t you? Yes

Which one of these is true? Well we started having a look, but....

So you have no idea where you are going to live do you? Yes

Don’t argue with the witness In the above example, it could be tempting to say, “You can’t know where you are going to live if you have not found any properties to rent, can you?” You just want to take Peter far away from me, don’t you? Do not do this. Save it for your #closing submissions. You have made your point already. If you start making arguments to the witness, you will give the witness a chance to come up with a better answer. Stop while you are ahead.

Good luck 🙂

Great advice from 1626.

You could also write to the court and apologise for omitting evidence that is relevant to your case and ask for permission to file a further brief statement of evidence and cross reference and attach the texts to it.