STATEMENT, REPORT WRITING THE WITNESS STATEMENTS

Statements
Statements and reports are here treated in the same manner.
In general the use of the word "statement" in clinical forensic terms refers to a document produced
in terms that are acceptable to a criminal court in a form as laid down by section 9 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1967. This act allows for evidence to be read out in court and to be treated with the same
weight and value as if the evidence had been given in person. Such evidence can only be offered to
the court if counsel for both sides agree that the contents are acceptable.
Reproduced here in Figure 4.1 is the appropriate paragraph that must be appended to a report (in
England & Wales) for it to be in an acceptable form to satisfy presentation in court. Besides
including and signing this declaration, each individual page must be signed also.
The FME producing a report, whether it is in "section 9" form or not, owes a duty to produce a
document that is clear, concise and understandable to a non medically trained person. Subject to the
"section 9" declaration, no distinction will be made between reports and statements.

In a civil case the format differs. It should be produced without the above declaration.
The structure of a medico-legal report can be broken down into a simple protocol. The order of
inclusion of the various components is not critical except where the sequence of events being
described is itself of significance.