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Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/BK201210.jpg)
Witness order
The respondent can choose not to call a witness who could provide important evidence in support of its case. However, in some exceptional circumstances there may be witnesses still employed by the respondent who it is worth trying to arrange to be summoned to the hearing — having first contacted them to see if they will attend voluntarily. But, if the witness is going to give unhelpful evidence or you have no idea what s/he will say then summonsing is not recommended.
Successfully having a witness summonsed could provide cover for a sympathetic ex-colleague to attend with less fear of reprisals from the employer. Alternatively it might encourage the employer to settle when it realises that it can’t keep out evidence that will badly undermine its case. An example witness order is detailed below:
Example witness order
Dear (Name),
I should be grateful if you would put before a Judge my application for an order for the attendance of Ms OK at the hearing of this case on [DATE].
Ms OK was the Claimant’s team leader at Painless Ltd (the Respondent). As such she is believed to have been involved in, or responsible for, making the decision to terminate the Claimant’s employment. She has important evidence to give about [identify the issue]. However, despite a request to do so on [DATE] the Respondent has refused to indicate whether it intends to call her as a witness.
Not least because Ms OK is still employed by the Respondent, the Claimant does not believe that she will be a willing or co-operative witness for the Claimant. In the circumstances the Tribunal is asked to order her attendance as its own witness and to make her available for cross-examination by either party.
Ms OK’s professional address is: [Address]
Yours faithfully,