Free Witness Statement Template

WITNESS STATEMENT

Civil Procedure Rules Part 32  ·  England And Wales

Filed pursuant to Civil Procedure Rules Part 32.
On behalf of: Claimant
Made by: Thomas Edward Clarke
Statement number: 1st
Date made: 14 March 2026
Exhibit initials: TEC

I, Thomas Edward Clarke, of 28 Maple Drive, Oxford OX1 3DP, Chartered Accountant by profession (date of birth 17 August 1978), am the party to the proceedings in these proceedings. I make this, my 1st witness statement, on behalf of the Claimant in support of the above proceedings. I am duly authorised to make this statement.

The relevant court is the County Court at Oxford, Civil Business Centre. The claim number is A00OX123. The Claimant/Applicant is Thomas Edward Clarke and the Defendant/Respondent is Premier Property Services Ltd. This statement is made in accordance with Civil Procedure Rules Part 32.

The contents of this statement are within my own direct knowledge except where otherwise indicated. Where I rely on information and belief, I identify the source and state that I believe it to be true, in accordance with paragraph 18.2 of Practice Direction 32.

I am the Claimant in this matter. I make this statement from facts within my own knowledge unless otherwise stated. Where information has come from another source, I have identified the source and I believe it to be true.

I refer to the following documents, produced and exhibited to this statement and marked accordingly in accordance with paragraph 11 of Practice Direction 32:

TEC-1: Copy of the written building contract dated 15 January 2026
TEC-2: Photographs of incomplete and defective works taken on 5 March 2026
TEC-3: Independent surveyor's report dated 5 March 2026
TEC-4: Correspondence between the parties, February–March 2026

The Claimant is represented by Rachel Ann Stevens of Smith and Jones Solicitors LLP (14 High Street, Oxford OX1 4AB), file reference SJ/TEC/2026/001.

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth (CPR Part 22 and Practice Direction 22).

WARNING — CONTEMPT OF COURT: Under section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and CPR 32.14, a person found guilty of making a false statement verified by a statement of truth may be committed to prison (up to 2 years in the High Court, up to 1 month in the County Court), fined, or have their assets seized. Making a knowingly false statement in a statutory declaration also constitutes an offence under section 5 of the Perjury Act 1911, punishable by imprisonment of up to two years and/or an unlimited fine.

I declare, for the purposes of this witness statement and consistent with the proposals in the Civil Justice Council's consultation paper "Use of AI in Preparing Court Documents" (opened 17 February 2026, closing 14 April 2026) and the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary "Artificial Intelligence (AI) Guidance for Judicial Office Holders" (refreshed October 2025), that:

(a) Substantive evidence. The substantive content of this witness statement — including the introduction, every paragraph of the Statement of Facts, and the description of each exhibit — is my own recollection of events drawn from my own knowledge (or, where information has come from another source, identified by reference to that source). No substantive evidential statement above has been generated, edited or rephrased by an AI tool such as to alter its substance, and adopted without my own meaningful review.

(b) Permitted AI use (clerical only). Where a general-purpose AI tool, large-language-model assistant or legal-document-drafting platform has been used in the preparation of this statement, such use has been limited to clerical functions: presenting standard CPR Part 22 / PD 57AC clause templates, statutory and case cross-referencing, spelling and grammar checking, and conversion of dictated text to written form. These uses fall outside Article 22(1) UK GDPR (no decision was taken on a solely automated basis) and do not constitute "evidence generation".

(c) No AI-fabricated authorities. I (and the legal representative responsible for filing this statement) have verified each statutory citation, case reference, exhibit citation, name, date and figure stated in this statement against an authoritative source. No statement above is the product of AI hallucination.

(d) Verification on request. On the request of the court or any party, I and (where applicable) my legal representative will provide a brief description of the AI tools used (if any) in the preparation of this statement and the nature of that use, consistent with the Bar Standards Board / SRA guidance on the proper use of generative AI in legal practice.

The witness acknowledges that this statement may be filed and served electronically through the appropriate digital channel for the court / tribunal seised of the proceedings, including (without limitation):

(a) MyHMCTS — the HM Courts and Tribunals Service portal for online case management (Family Court, immigration, social entitlement, employment);
(b) CE-File — the Business and Property Courts electronic filing system (mandatory for represented parties in many lists);
(c) Damages Claims portal — for online money claims and personal-injury claims (CPR Practice Direction 51ZB pilot, extended);
(d) Online Procedure Rules — being developed by the Online Procedure Rule Committee under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 for low-value civil claims and certain Family Court applications.

The witness confirms that, where the statement is filed electronically, the signed wet-ink original (or any qualified electronic signature) is retained by the witness or the witness's solicitor and is available for production to the court on request. The statement of truth retains its full evidential effect under CPR 32.8 + PD 32 para 17 when filed in electronic format.

The witness acknowledges that this witness statement contains personal data within the meaning of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 ("DUAA 2025")), the bulk of whose Part 5 data-protection amendments came into force on 5 February 2026 by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/82); a new statutory complaints duty under s.164A DPA 2018 is in force from 19 June 2026.

(a) Lawful basis. Filing of this statement with the court, service on other parties and processing by the court are conducted under UK GDPR Art 6(1)(c) (legal obligation) and / or Art 6(1)(e) (public task — administration of justice); any special-category data within the statement (Art 9) is processed on the basis of Art 9(2)(f) (legal claims).

(b) Open justice. The witness acknowledges that, subject to any anonymisation or restricted-reporting order, the statement may be read out in open court and copies obtained by non-parties under CPR 5.4C; the witness has had regard to this in deciding what personal information to include.

(c) Witness rights. The data-subject rights (access, rectification, restriction, objection) may be exercised against the court, the parties' solicitors and any other data controller; the new s.164A DPA 2018 complaints duty (from 19 June 2026) requires every controller to have a compliant complaints process.

This witness statement is made in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules Part 32 and is governed by the law of England and Wales. It is intended to stand as the witness's evidence-in-chief at trial pursuant to CPR 32.5(2) unless the court otherwise directs.