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33-560: In the United States, the plaintiff is generally entitled to open the argument. The defendant usually goes second. The plaintiff or prosecution is usually then permitted a final rebuttal argument. In some jurisdictions, however, this form is condensed, and the prosecution or plaintiff goes second, after the defense, with no rebuttals. Either party may waive their opportunity to present a closing argument. During closing arguments, counsel may not (among other restrictions) vouch for

66-426: A complaint . These documents are known as pleadings , that set forth the alleged wrongs committed by the defendant or defendants with a demand for relief. In other jurisdictions, the action is commenced by service of legal process by delivery of these documents on the defendant by a process server; they are only filed with the court subsequently with an affidavit from the process server that they had been given to

99-401: A non-religious "statement of truth" and, if it is breached, will be liable for up to one year in prison if convicted summarily or, upon conviction on indictment, to a maximum fine of €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or both. This is designed to replace affidavits and statutory declarations in situations where the electronic means of lodgement or filing of documents with

132-412: A person signs an affidavit, that person is eligible to take the stand at a trial or evidentiary hearing. One party may wish to summon the affiant to verify the contents of the affidavit, while the other party may want to cross-examine the affiant about the affidavit. Some types of motions will not be accepted by the court unless accompanied by an independent sworn statement or other evidence in support of

165-483: A plaintiff has, since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules in 1999, been known as a " claimant " and Scotland , where the party has always been known as the " pursuer ". In criminal cases, the prosecutor brings the case against the defendant, but the key complaining party is often called the " complainant ". In some jurisdictions , a lawsuit is commenced by filing a summons , claim form or

198-534: A specific order of the court. In Sri Lanka, under the Oaths Ordinance, with the exception of a court-martial , a person may submit an affidavit signed in the presence of a commissioner for oaths or a justice of the peace . Affidavits are made in a similar way as to England and Wales, although "make oath" is sometimes omitted. An affirmed affidavit may be substituted for an sworn affidavit in most cases for those opposed to swearing oaths. The person making

231-415: A statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public or commissioner of oaths. An affidavit is a type of verified statement or showing, or in other words, it contains a verification, which means that it is made under oath on penalty of perjury , and this serves as evidence for its veracity and is required in court proceedings. An affidavit

264-463: Is neutral in the way sworn evidence and unsworn evidence is treated as being of equal weight. The term "affidavit" is used in the UK. According the UK government website, "The affidavit can be sworn or affirmed by a solicitor, notary or commissioner for oaths (for a charge) or by an authorised member of court staff." In Indian law , although an affidavit may be taken as proof of the facts stated therein,

297-401: Is not required to swear an oath or affirmation. Rather, the signature of the declarant under a carefully worded phrase binding them to the truth of their statements "under penalty of perjury" is deemed as a matter of law to be sufficiently solemn to remind the declarant of their duty to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The point of such affidavit substitution statutes

330-488: Is often planned early in the trial planning process. The attorneys will integrate the closing with the overall case strategy through either a theme and theory or, with more advanced strategies, a line of effort . The prosecution should also state the main points and be sure to give their side of the argument and to be emotional. This law -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand )

363-409: Is that unsworn declarations can be prepared and executed far more quickly and economically than affidavits, in that the witness need not meet personally with a notary public for the notarization process. The acceptance of an affidavit by one society does not confirm its acceptance as a legal document in other jurisdictions. Equally, the acceptance that a lawyer is an officer of the court (for swearing

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396-434: Is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an action ) before a court . By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy . If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the plaintiff and make the appropriate court order (e.g., an order for damages ). "Plaintiff" is the term used in civil cases in most English-speaking jurisdictions, the notable exceptions being England and Wales , where

429-420: Is typically defined as a written declaration or statement that is sworn or affirmed before a person who has authority to administer an oath. There is no general defined form for an affidavit, although for some proceedings an affidavit must satisfy legal or statutory requirements in order to be considered. An affidavit may include, In some cases, an introductory clause, called a preamble , is added attesting that

462-521: The Commissioner states his/her name clearly, sometimes documents are rejected when the name cannot be ascertained. In August 2020, a new method of filing affidavits came into force. Under Section 21 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 witnesses are no longer required to swear before God or make an affirmation when filing an affidavit. Instead, witnesses will make

495-568: The Court provided for in Section 20 is utilised. As of January 2022, it has yet to be adopted widely, and it is expected it will not be used for some time by lay litigants who will still lodge papers in person. In American jurisprudence , under the rules for hearsay , admission of an unsupported affidavit as evidence is unusual (especially if the affiant is not available for cross-examination ) with regard to material facts which may be dispositive of

528-473: The State of , followed by the name of the state, or People for short. Affidavit An affidavit ( / ˌ æ f ɪ ˈ d eɪ v ɪ t / AF -ih- DAY -vit ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such

561-405: The affiant is a party in the case, the affiant's opponent may be successful in having the affidavit admitted as evidence, as statements by a party-opponent are admissible through an exception to the hearsay rule. Affidavits are typically included in the response to interrogatories . Requests for admissions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 36, however, are not required to be sworn. When

594-580: The affiant personally appeared before the authenticating authority. An affidavit may also recite that the statement it records was made under penalty of perjury. An affidavit that is prepared for use within the context of litigation may also include a caption that identifies the venue and parties to the relevant judicial proceedings. On 2 March 2016, the High Court of Australia held that the ACT Uniform Evidence Legislation

627-402: The affidavit is known as the deponent and signs the affidavit. The affidavit concludes in the standard format "sworn/affirmed (declared) before me, [name of commissioner for oaths/solicitor], a commissioner for oaths (solicitor), on the [date] at [location] in the county/city of [county/city], and I know the deponent", and it is signed and stamped by the commissioner for oaths. It is important that

660-506: The affidavit) is not a given. This matter is addressed by the use of the apostille, a means of certifying the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents . Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille, are accepted for legal use in all

693-457: The case formally in the name of the monarch, state or government. In many Commonwealth realms, this is the king (or queen, when the monarch is female), named the Crown, abbreviated R , thus R v Defendant (orally, R against (versus) Defendant ). In several U.S. states, including California , Illinois , Michigan , and New York , the prosecution of a criminal case is captioned as The People of

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726-593: The courts have no jurisdiction to admit evidence by way of affidavit. Affidavit is not treated as "evidence" within the meaning of Section 3 of the Evidence Act. However, it was held by the Supreme Court that an affidavit can be used as evidence only if the court so orders for sufficient reasons, namely, the right of the opposite party to have the deponent produced for cross-examination. Therefore, an affidavit cannot ordinarily be used as evidence in absence of

759-470: The courts, file a complaint (thus establishing a real court case under judicial supervision) and become a plaintiff. In England and Wales , the term "claimant" replaced "plaintiff" after the Civil Procedure Rules came into force on 26 April 1999. The move, which brings England and Wales out of line with general usage in English-speaking jurisdictions, was reportedly based on an assessment that

792-413: The credibility of witnesses, indicate their personal opinions of the case, comment on the absence of evidence that they themselves have caused to be excluded, or attempt to exhort the jury to irrational, emotional behavior. In some countries (e.g. France or Germany), in criminal cases, the defendant's counsel always makes their closing argument last, after the public prosecutor or any other party. Sometimes

825-538: The defendant according to the rules of civil procedure . In most English-speaking jurisdictions, including Hong Kong , Nigeria , Australia (except in federal jurisdiction), Canada and the United States , as well as in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , the legal term "plaintiff" is used as a general term for the party taking action in a civil case. The word plaintiff can be traced to

858-468: The defendant is allowed to address the court directly after his or her counsel's closing argument. In a criminal law case, the prosecution will restate all the evidence which helps prove each element of the offence. In the United States, there are often several limits as to what the prosecution may or may not say, including precluding the prosecution from using a defendant's exercise of his Fifth Amendment right to silence as evidence of guilt . One of

891-400: The facts set forth in his affidavit. Affidavits should not be confused with unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury. In federal courts and about 20 states as of 2006, unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury are authorized by statute as acceptable in lieu of affidavits. The key differences are that an unsworn declaration does not bear the jurat of a notary public and the declarant

924-430: The matter at bar. Affidavits from persons who are dead or otherwise incapacitated, or who cannot be located or made to appear, may be accepted by the court, but usually only in the presence of corroborating evidence . An affidavit which reflected a better grasp of the facts close in time to the actual events may be used to refresh a witness's recollection. Materials used to refresh recollection are admissible as evidence. If

957-524: The most important restrictions on prosecutors, however, is against shifting the burden of proof , or implying that the defense must put on evidence or somehow prove the innocence of the defendant. In some cases, a judge's presentation of the jury instruction is also known as summing up. In this case, the judge is merely articulating the law and questions of fact upon which the jury is asked to deliberate . The purposes and techniques of closing argument are taught in courses on Trial Advocacy . The closing

990-500: The need for the motion. In such a case, a court will accept an affidavit from the filing attorney in support of the motion, as certain assumptions are made, to wit: The affidavit in place of sworn testimony promotes judicial economy . The lawyer is an officer of the court and knows that a false swearing by them, if found out, could be grounds for severe penalty up to and including disbarment . The lawyer if called upon would be able to present independent and more detailed evidence to prove

1023-471: The plaintiff first, as in Plaintiff v. Defendant (orally, Plaintiff and Defendant ). The party against whom the complaint is made is the defendant ; or, in the case of a petition, a respondent. Subsequent references to a case may use only one of the names, typically that of the first nongovernmental party. Criminal cases are usually brought by the prosecution, not a plaintiff. The prosecution may bring

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1056-584: The word "claimant" is more acceptable as " plain English " than the word "plaintiff". In Scottish law a plaintiff is referred to as a " pursuer " and a defendant as a "defender". The similar term "complainant" denotes the complaining witness in a criminal proceeding. In the Federal Court of Australia , most plaintiffs are called "applicants", but in admiralty and corporations law matters they are called "plaintiffs". Case names are usually given with

1089-914: The year 1278, and stems from the Anglo-French word pleintif meaning "complaining". It was identical to " plaintive " at first and receded into legal usage with the -iff spelling in the 15th century. A plaintiff identified by name in a class action is called a named plaintiff . In most common-law jurisdictions, the term "claimant" used in England and Wales since 1999 (see below) is used only in specific, often non-judicial contexts. In particular, in American usage, terms such as "claimant" and "claim form" are limited to extrajudicial process in insurance and administrative law . After exhausting remedies available through an insurer or government agency , an American claimant in need of further relief would turn to

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