IMPORTANT DATES
20 March 2010
Advisory Meeting
Burwood RSL Club
1.00 pm
24 July 2010
Annual Conference
Liverpool Catholic Club
424–458 Hoxton Park Road
9.00 am
18 September 2010
Advisory Meeting
Burwood RSL Club
1.00 pm
27 November 2010
Annual General Meeting
Burwood RSL Club
1.00 pm
14 May 2011
Annual Conference
Sydney
Affidavits
Click the following link to see an example of a completed Affidavit
An Affidavit is a document or written statement given in the place of verbal evidence for court proceedings. An Affidavit is distinguished from a Statutory Declaration by the document or statement being verified as being the truth by the swearing of an oath or affirmation before a person authorised to take such an oath or affirmation. A Justice of the Peace is such an Authorised Person.
An Affidavit is the most often used for of evidence in legal proceedings, and even more so when a person is unable to attend court.
The person making an Affidavit is referred to as the "Deponent"
Contents of an Affidavit
Every Affidavit made in New South Wales should consist of the following:
Either
Oath - the Affidavit must commence with
"On (day, month, year) I (deponents full name, address and occupation) say on oath -
or
Affirmation - the Affidavit must commence with
"On (day, month, year) I (deponents full name, address and occupation) do solemnly, sincerely, and truly affirm and declare: -
1. (evidence or statements are set out in numbered paragraphs)
2.
3. etc"
At the end of the numbered statements is the Jurat, placed in the lower left hand corner of the (last) page.
Either
Oath - "Sworn at (place)
or
Affirmation - "Declared and affirmed at (place)
on the (date) day of (month) (Year) before me:
(Signature of Justice of The Peace) (Signature of Declarant)
__________________________ ___________________
Justice of the Peace
(Name, Address and
Registration Number)
Oath or Affirmation and the Role of the Authorised Person
Verification as to the truth of an Affidavit is by either an Oath or Affirmation stated to the Authorised Person.
Oath - the Authorised Person will give the deponent a bible or, if pre-arranged, a copy of the deponent's own Holy Scriptures. With the bible in the Deponent's right hand the Authorised Person will say,
"Do you swear that the contents of this affidavit are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief?"
The deponent then swears to the true of the affidavit by saying,
"So help me, God"
Where the bible may not be relevant to the Deponent and/or the Deponent's Holy Scriptures are not available, the Authorised Person will ask:
"Is the oath you now propose to take binding on your conscience?"
The deponent should answer, "Yes".
The Authorised Person will then ask,
"Do you swear that the contents of this affidavit are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief?"
The Deponent should answer
"Yes".
Affirmation - is to be made if the Deponent objects to taking an oath. The Authorised Person will ask,
"Do you solemnly, sincerely, and truly affirm and declare that the contents of this your affirmation are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief?"
The Deponent should answer by saying, "Yes".
The Authorised Person will complete and sign the jurat on the Affidavit only after the Oath or Affirmation is taken.
NOTE:
When an affidavit is longer than one page, the jurat should be at the end of the statement, on the last page. Both the Deponent and the Authorised Person must sign at the foot of each and every page, except the page that contains the completed jurat.
Alterations and erasures within an affidavit are allowed after its preparation and must be initialled in the margin by the Deponent.
An Affidavit should not contain blank space, where other material could be inserted.
Annexures
These are attachments to Affidavits (or Statutory Declarations) such as original documents, photographs etc. Annexures must be referred to in the Affidavit and labelled in alphabetical order such as Annexure A, and Annexure B etc.
To refer to an Annexure in the text of the Affidavit, for example:
"the receipt (Annexure B) proves that I paid for the shoes that I claim were stolen"
or
"Annexure D is a list of all the items I claim were lost when my boat capsized .... "
Annexures must be labelled, only on the 1st page, in a prominent place, preferably at the top of the document, with:
"This is the Annexure 'A' in the Affidavit
of (Deponents Full Name)
declared before me
this (day) of (month) (year)",
and it must be signed by the Justice of the Peace including their name, and address or registration number.
Where an annexure has more than 1 page it must be labelled by the Justice of the Peace on the first page (only) of the annexure, with:
"This and the following (number of pages) is Annexure "A" referred to in the Affidavit of ..... etc.
Penalties for making a False Affidavit
By virtue of Section 29 of the Crimes Act, 1900 a person who wilfully lies in an Affidavit is guilty of perjury. Section 327(1) of the Crimes Act provides that the penalty for perjury is 10 years imprisonment. However, the Criminal Procedure Act 1986, indicates that Section 29 offences may be dealt with summarily, in which case the penalty is up to 2 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 100 penalty units ($11,000 in 1998).
Click the following link to see an example of a completed Affidavit
Click the following link to see information on statutory declarations