Court Skills/ Giving Evidence - Overview

The day is divided into two halves. The morning session is designed to demystify the process of giving evidence. Delegates will consider the techniques used by lawyers to discredit social workers, and will learn how to respond appropriately to the decision maker when these techniques are employed — in order to remain in control so they can more readily assist the court.

In the afternoon, we set up a mock courtroom in which delegates get to apply the techniques they have learnt in the morning and experience cross-examination. Delegates receive feedback on their performance, reinforcing good practice and providing a personalised critique.

Key Learning Points

By the end of the course delegates will be able to:

• Recognise how the adversarial system works.
• Properly prepare to give oral evidence.
• Make appropriate use of supporting evidence, documents and records while under cross-examination.
• Distinguish between opinion and factual evidence in the role of the court appointed 'expert witness'.
• Providing evidence from the perspective of a professional social worker.
• Give confident and clear testimony to the court despite the rigours of cross-examination.