The documents referred to in a statement of a witness in a civil matter will be identified by a brief description but it is usual to also quote a reference number for each document as it is referred to.
For example a statement might say
I sent Mr Jones a letter dated 10 September 2020. I refer to this letter marked Exhibit JJS23.
or
I took a photo of the wall on 19 December 1998. I refer to the photo marked Exhibit JJS14.
Quoting a reference is important for two reasons:
It provides certainty for readers of that statement about exactly what document the witness is referring to. This is always important but is particularly important in the case of photographs. In the above example, there might have been more than one photo of the wall taken on 19 December 1998, and the exhibit mark identifies the exact photo which the witness has in mind.
It facilitates automatic hyperlinking in the eventual Final Hearing Bundle. If the dispute should proceed all the way to a final hearing (trial) copies of witness statements, together with other documents, will be included in a large bookmarked PDF known as a Hearing Bundle, and each reference in a statement to a document will need to be hyperlinked to that document within the Hearing Bundle. Using references with a standard format enables the hyperlinking to be accomplished automatically rather than each hyperlink having to be added manually.
Tribunal rules in England and Wales do not generally mandate the exact format to be used for exhibit marks and in theory each statement could number the exhibits it refers to starting at 1 with no alphabetic prefix. But that would mean that exhibit marks would not be unique so that when subsequently referring to an exhibit you would have to say, for example, "exhibit 6 to the statement of John Smith" as just saying "exhibit 6" would be ambiguous. Also automatic hyperlinking in the Hearing Bundle would not be possible. So to avoid this problem it is usual to make exhibit marks used unique within the entire case. Witness statements are taken, and exhibits marked, independently by each party to litigation before being exchanged - and in large cases several lawyers on the same side may be engaged in taking statements from numerous witnesses - so some system is desirable to avoid a clash and ensure that each exhibit mark is unique, and the convention is to use the initials of the witness followed by a serial number. Whilst not mandatory, court guides generally assume that this convention will be used. The 2025 Patents Court Guide gives "Exhibit AGS3" as an example of a exhibit to an affidavit of "Anthony Graham Snooks", for example, and Practice Direction CPR 32 PD issued under the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (applicable to most County Court cases) refers (in paragraph 17.2) to the "identifying initials and number of each exhibit". The advantage of using three initials, rather than two, is that it reduces the likelihood that two witnesses in the same case happen to have the same initials. Witnesses who are related may have the same surname and it is not that unusual for children to have the same first forename as a parent but with a different second forename. Three initials are also easy for the human mind to remember - four or more may be more difficult - so if the witness has a double-barrelled surname then usually the initial of the second forename is omitted so as to keep to the three letter format so, for example, exhibits for John Philip Hamilton-Smith would be labelled JHS1, JHS2, etc.
Where the same document is exhibited by the statements of two different witnesses separate copies of the exhibit with different exhibit marks would be used.
If a witness makes more than one statement for a case, the numbering of exhibits runs consecutively so if the first statement of Patricia Mary Jones refers to exhibits PMJ1 to PMJ8, and she makes a second statement referring to two additional documents, they would have exhibit marks of PMJ9 and PMJ10. The combination of the use of witness initials and use of a serial number running consecutively (and not restarting if there are two or more statements from a particular witness) ensures that each exhibit mark used in a case is unique.
If one exhibit has been recently produced, for the purpose of the proceedings, from another exhibit in some way, then the derived version can have a lower case letter added as a suffix. For example a witness might wish to mark, on a copy of a photo, some feature that they are referring to in their statement by drawing a red circle round it. In this case if the original photo has an exhibit mark of JJS14, the marked copy would have an exhibit mark of JJS14a. Or if there is a document written in a language other than English, the original might be exhibited as JJS15 with a (recently produced) English translation being exhibited as JJS15a. Or a witness might wish to exhibit an image-and-metadata PDF "print" showing both a photo image and relevant items of metadata. They may also wish to exhibit an image-only copy because, for example, it is a larger and clearer image than appears within the image-and-metadata PDF print. If the image-only exhibit is JJS16, the image-and-metadata print would be JJS16a.
Each exhibit referred to in a statement which will be used for the Final Hearing (trial) should be a single document so that, in the eventual Final Hearing Bundle, individual documents can be separately arranged in the most appropriate positions, and so that each document can be referred to with a simple exhibit mark, rather than saying e.g. "...which starts at page 22 of the bundle of document marked 'Exhibit JJS3'" - which would make automatic hyperlinking impossible.
That said, it should be mentioned that there are some hearings other than the Final Hearing - such as an urgent hearing at the beginning of, or part way through, a case e.g. an urgent application for an interim injunction - where it is not required (and indeed often not feasible in the time available) to produce, for the urgent hearing, a fully engineered Hearing Bundle in which documents exhibited by multiple statements are arranged chronologically, with statement references to documents appropriately linked. For such hearings, using a composite exhibit, containing a number of documents, can actually be very useful. Each page of the composite exhibit would be numbered bottom centre - e.g. JJS1-p1, JJS1-p2, JJS1-p3 etc. and the front page (or pages) of the composite exhibit would include a list of the documents with page numbers, and because each statement, when referring to a document, will be quoting the bottom centre page reference within the composite exhibit, that provides at least some ready-made means of easy reference.
Many documents sent to the Land Registry are land transaction deeds (Conveyance, Transfer, Grant, Release, etc.) which are drawn up in a very specific way and executed with certain formalities. Identifying, in a statement, the type of deed, date, and the names of the parties should be enough to ensure that there is no doubt about the document referred to - e.g. Conveyance dated 14 March 1972 between John Smith and Paula Jones so that a copy with an exhibit label does not need to be used. For the majority of less formal documents, however, referred to in statements such as letters, contracts, and particularly photos, it is better if a copy with an exhibit label is used.
In the 20th century sometimes original paper documents were actually marked with an exhibit mark but nowadays invariably documents are scanned and the exhibit mark applied to the scanned copy only. Typically a PDF copy is made (scanning a paper document or converting a non-PDF computer file to a PDF copy) with an exhibit mark label imposed in the top right hand corner of the PDF. Most ordinary PDF software - e.g. PDF X-Change Editor - has an option to apply a label to a PDF which can then be "flattened" to make it permanent. Ideally the exhibit mark label should be applied to each page of the exhibit PDF but the exhibit mark should at least be on the first page.
It is good practice for the exhibit mark label to be signed by the witness (at the same time as they sign their statement which refers to it) on the first page of the exhibit at least, as a verification that the exhibited document is indeed the document they refer to with that exhibit mark in their statement. It is not impossible that the same individual witness might, from time to time, be involved in more than one case, so ideally the date of signature should accompany the signature on the exhibit mark label.
In some types of application the Land Registry requires statements with exhibits to be filed in paper form. The Land Registry will then themselves scan each paper document in as a PDF. In order to ensure that the Land Registry's scanned PDF copy of each document is as good as it can be, generally it is the original paper statement with "wet ink" signature together with each paper exhibit with "wet ink" signature on the label which would be sent to the Land Registry. (Before sending, a PDF scan should be taken and kept just as a precaution in case there is any mishap in the Land Registry's scanning process, as the Land Registry may routinely destroy documents after scanning.)
Often, however, the Land Registry will allow and encourage statements and exhibits to be emailed to their office in PDF form. In this case it is generally a PDF scan of the signed statement, together with exhibits in PDF form with an unsigned exhibit mark label, which are sent . Exhibit PDFs are usually sent with unsigned labels because in order to send a PDF copy of an exhibit with signed label an extra scan would be needed which would reduce image quality which is undesirable particularly in the case of photos. So the original paper exhibit with "wet ink" signature on the label would not be rescanned but simply kept safe so that, in any case of doubt, it could be produced. Only the PDF copy with unsigned label is sent (together with a PDF copy of the signed statement).
If, however, a witness prints out a copy of a photo or plan and makes a mark on the paper copy such as an arrow pointing to some feature that they are going to refer to in their statement, or if they draw a diagram on paper from scratch to be used with their statement, they would incorporate an exhibit label, and sign it, in the course of preparing it, so that the label is already signed when the document is first scanned as a PDF. So in that case the exhibit PDF which is sent would be signed. The original paper exhibit with "wet ink" signature on the label would be kept safe.
Note: the above refers to exhibits accompanying an ordinary statement (Statement of Truth under rule 215A of the Land Registration Rules 2003). If there is a statutory declaration or affidavit the procedure is different.
For tribunals, exhibits referred in in witness statements can be created in the same way as for Land Registry applications - i.e. by making a PDF copy of the document (scanning a paper document or converting a non-PDF computer file to a PDF copy) with an exhibit mark label imposed in the top right hand corner of the PDF. Ideally the exhibit mark label should be applied to each page of the exhibit PDF but the exhibit mark should at least be on the first page.
Most tribunals nowadays allow statements and exhibits to be emailed to the tribunal office (or uploaded using the tribunal's website) so that it is not necessary to send them in paper form - a PDF scan of the signed statement, together with exhibits in PDF form with an unsigned exhibit mark label are sent (unsigned to preserve document quality). The original paper documents which were originally scanned to create the paper exhibits in the first place, together with each original paper exhibit with "wet ink" signature on the label, and the original "wet ink" signed paper statements, are kept safe so as to be available to be produced if necessary. The rules may require all these to be brought to the tribunal hearing though they would only need to be referred to in the unlikely event of some query about the copies in the Bundle used at the hearing.
Note that some tribunals, such as the Business and Property Courts of the High Court and the Business and Property List in the Central London County Court, have a preference for the references used for documents in witness statements (witness statements to be used at the Final Hearing) to be disclosure references (rather than labelled copies of documents being exhibited and their exhibit mark being used as a reference). Such tribunals, as most tribunals do, use a procedure which includes a Disclosure of Documents stage some weeks before the exchange of witness statements stage. At the Disclosure of Documents stage each party sends to the other party copies of the relevant documents it holds, each numbered with a serial disclosure number. The serial number would typically be at the start of the filename of each disclosed document and would be prefixed with a letter indicating the party's status in the case - e.g. C for a single Claimant, D for a single Defendant, D1 for the First Defendant, D2 for the second Defendant, etc. so that D1-22 would be the 22nd document disclosed by the First Defendant. A reference number such as D1-22 can then be quoted in witness statements instead of an exhibit mark. This means that a witness signing a statement does not have copies of documents in front of them labelled with an exhibit mark commencing with their initials, so it is important to ensure that the witness, when checking and signing their witness statement, has available to them, in some other way, copies of the documents which their statement refers to, with each document clearly identified, such as in a computer folder of documents with the filename of each document commencing with the disclosure number quoted in the statement. And it is particularly important that their statement, as well as quoting the disclosure number of each document, should also identify the document clearly in words - e.g. A & B Architects drawing of the extension dated November 2025 reference 1234-P01-E.
It is usual for statements within the Hearing Bundle to be annotated in the right hand margin, opposite each document reference, with the bundle page number of that exhibit - so that someone reading through the statement within the Hearing Bundle can easily refer to each document mentioned wherever it is within the bundle (it will usually be in a section further on in the bundle together with other evidential documents in chronological sequence). The document reference should also be hyperlinked. In addition the index and bookmarks should identify the references of documents.
Although, as explained above, many courts prefer disclosure list numbers to be used for reference, rather than documents being exhibited with an exhibit mark, there may, nevertheless, be a particular reason why a particular document should be exhibited. For example a witness might wish to mark, on a copy of a disclosed photo, some feature by drawing a red circle round it and then refer to the circled feature in their statement. In this case the marked copy would be exhibited. Where exhibits are used there are some specific labelling requirements in the High Court and County Court - over and above the requirements in most other tribunals. These requirements vary to a degree depending on whether the exhibit is referred to in an affidavit or in an ordinary witness statement.
The practice direction CPR 32 PD introduced with the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, follows the scheme of the previous 1983/1984 practice directions by requiring that as well as the exhibit mark, the initials and surname of the witness and the date of their statement, there should also be written at the top right on at least the first page of the exhibit (a) the status of the party on whose behalf the statement referring to the exhibit is filed, and (b) whether the exhibit was served with the first, second, third etc, statement - for example 2nd Dft: E. W. Jones: 3rd: 24.7.2024. This applies irrespective of whether the exhibit is used with an affidavit or with a witness statement.
An affidavit is sworn (before a commissioner for oaths) by the witness, when it is made. A witness statement, on the other hand, is not sworn at the time: it is simply signed by the witness and the witness swears as to its truth at any later hearing where they give "live" evidence. The 1998 practice direction requires, for exhibits used with affidavits, that the declaration of the person before whom the affidavit was sworn should be headed with the "title of the proceedings" which means (1) the identifying number given to the proceedings, (2) the court or Division in which they are proceeding, (3) the full name of each party, and (4) each party’s status in the proceedings (i.e. Claimant/Defendant) so in practice this means that a frontsheet will be required to provide sufficient space. The requirement for a declaration headed with the title of proceedings does not apply to exhibits used with witness statements (which are not sworn at the time they are made) so a frontsheet is not necessary if there is space in the top right of the exhibited copy document to write e.g.
2nd Dft
E. W. Jones: 3rd
JJS1
24.7.2024.
but before computerisation all exhibits traditionally had a backsheet with the title of the proceedings as a precaution against misfiling of the paper exhibit and having the title of proceedings on a frontsheet for all exhibits (even those used with witness statements rather than affidavits) seemed the natural thing to do, and has remained common practice even though in the computer age backsheets are now often omitted.
Any object which contains information is technically a "document" but if the object itself needs to be exhibited (whether or not it counts as a "document") then the usual procedure is that very small objects should be placed in a marked container and larger objects should have the exhibit mark securely attached to the object itself. Object exhibits are generally less convenient to handle and in many (though not all) cases it is possible for photos of the object to be exhibited rather than the object itself.
If a witness refers to a video or audio recording then to reduce the risk of mistake over which file is intended, the length of the recording should be stated - e.g. I took a video of the leak on 15 July 2023. The video is 5 minutes 23 seconds long.
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This information page is designed to be used by clients of John Antell who have entered into a written agreement for the provision of legal services.
Any explanation about naming conventions or other matters in the context of legal procedure is only an overview and in order to be reasonably concise I have had to leave some details out - details which are likely to affect what the procedural law would say about your own situation. Also, even as an overview, the information will not be applicable to every case as procedures vary between different courts and other tribunals and any tribunal may give alternative procedural directions in an individual case. So please do not rely on the above but contact me for advice.
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