Witness Examination

By entering the Witness Examination competition you are giving yourself the opportunity to apply your legal knowledge in a practical environment.  The ability to articulate and think on your feet can only be acquired through practice. This makes the witness examination one of the best and most enjoyable opportunities you may have during your time at law school to practice such important life skills. 

The Witness Examination trial involves a plaintiff and a defendant. As a Witness Examiner, you will act as either counsel for the defence or counsel for the prosecution.  In essence, your task is to ascertain the facts of the case through the examination and cross-examination of witnesses.  A detailed outline of the process involved in the Witness Examination can be found within this guide.  The examination takes place before an adjudicator, in the jurisdiction of a court within the Victorian Court hierarchy.

Students wishing to participate in the Witness Examination competition enter as an individual, however they MUST supply a ‘witness’ (a second person).  Competitors will collect their brief before the commencement of the trial.  This brief contains both witnesses’ statements of the events.  You may then consider, absorb, and ponder the facts.  Once you feel you understand your witness’s side of the events you may begin to prepare your case and develop questions for both your own and the opposing witness.  

This handbook has been developed as a valuable aid for all competitors and it provides important information on all facets of the competition. This includes the dates of the competition, the rules, a synopsis of each section of a cross examination, a number of suggestions and examples of how to conduct your case, a sample problem and some basic rules of evidence.

Being involved in the competition is as close as students get to the thrills of the courtroom.  We hope that the competition will prove to be an entertaining and worthwhile experience for all participants.