Examination And Judgement Of Witness Testimony In Civil Litigation

As one kind of evidence, the witness testimony plays a very important role in civil litigation. However the ignorance of its importance by our present judges renders it unable to fulfill its value and function of proof which it deserves.With the deepening of our reform of civil hearing procedures and the impending accession to the WTO, the author holds that foreign advanced experiences in this regard should be borrowed and absorbed in order to restructure and perfect our civil evidence system and thus to upgrade the level of enforcement of law by our courts in order to ensure the impartiality of our legal enforcement.This dissertation include three parts: Preamble, Main Content, Conclusion. The Main Content includes:First: A summary of witness testimony. This part begins with the definition and characteristics of witness testimony in order to indicate its importance. Whenever in ancient times or in modern era, it has the same key roles in civil litigation. Particularly in Anglo-Saxon common law countries, the kind of testimony occupies the core status among civil evidences.Second: The status of witness testimony in civil litigation. Except embodied to some extent in the "Some Regulations Regarding the Reform of Civil and Commercial Hearings" promulgated by our Supreme Court, the status and validity of our witness testimony and other 6 kinds of civil evidences have not been differentiated in our Civil Procedure Law. The "Regulations" have established the priority rules of evidences and have provided the extent of validity for 7 kinds of evidences including the witness testimony and thus can effectively direct our legal practices.Third: The examination and judgement of the witness testimony. The examination of factuality and legality of witness testimony serves to judge its validity. The former is premise and foundation and the latter aim and result. Only through inquiring into the factuality and legality of witness testimony can the court judge its validity and use it as the basis of deciding the facts and merits of a case. Therefore before deciding the case on the basis of witness testimony, we should carefully examine it in order to judge its validity correctly. When examining the witness testimony, we should first determine the subject matter of examination and should use some scientific and reasonable methods. And the examination and judgement of witness testimony should be made through lawful hearing procedures.Fourth: Studies of several problems regarding the judgement of validity of witness testimony. First the article take the view that the nature and essence of validity of witness testimony is the beginning of our study and it belongs to the objective scope and thus the most important factor. Second the article emphasize that the standard of judgement for the validity of witness testimony should be the standard of relevancy. When the facts expressed by the witness testimony has material relevancy with the facts of a civil case which need to be proved, then the witness testimony could have the validity of proof. The witness testimonies with strong relevancy have a stronger validity than with a weak relevancy. Finally the judgement of the validity of witness testimony should be proceeded through the collegiate system and embodied in the democratic majority rules in order to prevent the judges from misusing his criterion and powers.Fifth: The perfection of witness testimony-making system in civil litigation. Combined with the deepening of our current reform of civil hearings, this part put forward some easy-done suggestion and methods in our judicial practices in addition to analyzing the existing drawbacks of our current witness testimony system. First we should establish the witness's appearance system, such as, the parties should ensure the witness appear before the court, or the witness should provide the security for his appearance before the court, and so on. Second the procedural rules of witness's appearance before the court should be established. Besides...