| name | uk-witness-statement-review |
| title | uk-witness-statement-review |
| description | Use when users say "review this witness statement", "check this statement before service", "PD 57AC", "statement of truth", "hearsay in this witness evidence", or need England and Wales witness evidence checked for source support, CPR/PD issues, exhibits, chronology conflicts, or argument. |
| author | LegalQuants |
| author_url | https://github.com/LegalQuants/lq-skills/tree/main/skills/uk-witness-statement-review |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | gb |
| practice | litigation |
| language | en |
| tags | ["witness-statements","cpr","evidence","england-and-wales","drafting"] |
uk-witness-statement-review
When to Use
- A user has a draft witness statement for England and Wales civil proceedings.
- The statement needs checking against documents, chronology, pleadings, or disclosure.
- The user wants issues flagged before signing, service, exchange, or filing.
- The draft may contain argument, speculation, hearsay, unsupported recollection, or inconsistent dates.
This skill is a review workflow. It does not certify truth, settle admissibility, or replace solicitor/counsel sign-off.
Audience and Work Shape
Audience: England and Wales litigation lawyers, pupils/trainees, and paralegals reviewing witness evidence under supervision before service or filing.
Work shape: pattern-matched review with accretive judgment. The skill classifies paragraph types, flags support/rule issues, and prepares questions for the responsible lawyer/witness; it does not certify the evidence.
Legal Failure Modes
- Legal support, not legal advice: the review flags drafting, evidential, and procedural issues; it does not certify truth, admissibility, or compliance.
- Privilege/confidentiality: witness drafts, exhibits, and reviewer comments may be privileged or confidential. Use approved environments and keep outputs within the privilege group unless a responsible lawyer approves circulation.
- Accountability: the witness owns the truth of the evidence, and the responsible lawyer owns service, filing, and strategic use.
Access Modes
This skill works in three modes:
- Live source mode - use browser, web search, MCP, API, or other configured access to retrieve public rules, orders, filings, or source documents.
- User-supplied source mode - use the draft statement plus uploaded or pasted exhibits, pleadings, correspondence, chronology, disclosure, prior statements, rules, or orders supplied by the user.
- No-source mode - review the statement's internal drafting issues and produce a source-request checklist, but do not mark factual assertions as supported.
If exhibits, documents, rules, or orders cannot be retrieved or supplied, mark the relevant check source_missing or verify_current_rule. Do not verify facts or procedural compliance from model memory.
How It Works
1. Confirm context
Identify:
- Court or tribunal, claim type, and procedural stage.
- Witness role: party, employee, expert-adjacent fact witness, third party, or litigant in person.
- Purpose: interim application, trial, summary judgment, costs, or pre-action evidence.
